Passion of Love
by Morningdew-1
Summary: Sequel to Dance of Love. When Lex Luthor unleashes a monster that can destroy the Earth, Superman and the people he cares for are confronted with the sheer impossible task to save the world.
1. Prologue

**Passion of Love**

Sequel to_ Dance of Love_. When Lex Luthor unleashes a monster that can destroy the Earth, Superman and the people he cares for are confronted with the sheer impossible task to safe the world.

**My dear readers! I'm back ;)**

**This is my second fanfiction in English. Please be kind if sometimes the spelling and grammar isn't right.**

**The story is an alternate universe sequel to ****my **_**very**_** AU story **_**Dance of Love**_**, which is a sequel to Superman Returns.**

**And these are the things you should know before you start to read:**

**If you just found this story, welcome! **

**I strongly recommend you to read **_**Dance of Love**_** first. Clark and Lois are not together in this universe. They are, however, very good friends. Lois is married to Richard and they have a child together. Clark is married to Celeste, an Australian ballet dancer. **

**For my readers who have followed me from my other story, this story will have more dancing action, more Clark and Jason interaction as well as more Lois, Richard, Clark and Celeste interaction. I will also introduce some new characters and revisit some storylines from **_**Dance of Love**_**. However, please be aware that this story is **_**much**_** darker as **_**Dance of Love**_**, so you are warned reading it at your own risk... ;)**

**Disclaimer:**** This fanfiction is based on Superman I, Superman II (Lester and Donner), Superman Returns, Lois and Clark the new Adventures of Superman, and Smallville as well as some specific comic books. Superman and all the characters related are property of Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, DC Comics, and Warner Bros. They are not mine. Mine is, however, Celeste, the charming little ballet dancer…**

**And now… Enjoy!**

**Prologue**

**Locking Up The Sun**

_They're locking up the sun, the light of reason gone,_

_n' hope has been successfully undone_

_The question's burning on, where is it coming from,_

_no-one seems to know the monster born_

_It's a bad trip on a sinking ship, when no-one seems responsible_

_Scapegoat to rock the boat, yeah, we need someone expendable_

_Volunteers to face the fears, can we be sensible_

_And find a way to break the fall, find out the cure for all_

_Is there a hero somewhere, someone who appears and saves the day_

_Someone who holds out a hand and turns back time_

_Is there a hero somewhere, someone who will never walk away_

_Who doesn't turn a blind eye to a crime_

_They're locking up the sun, they have their chosen one,_

_you know this time they'll make him play along_

_They're taking to the arms, the fathers and their sons,_

_there's nowhere left to run and hide_

_It's a bad trip on a sinking ship, when no-one seems responsible_

_Scapegoat to rock the boat, yeah, we need someone expendable_

_Volunteers to face the fears, can we be sensible_

_And find a way to break the fall, find out the cure for all_

_Is there a hero somewhere, someone who appears and saves the day_

_Someone who holds out a hand and turns back time_

_Is there a hero somewhere, someone who will never walk away_

_Who doesn't turn a blind eye to a crime_

_And in the emptiness, there's a solution,_

_just look within yourself for absolution_

_**Poets of the Fall**_


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: My dear readers, here is chapter one for you! Enjoy :)**

**A huge thanks to my betas Dragon166, and Astha22!**

**A very special thanks goes to Supesfan18 for the creative input in this story!**

**Disclaimer: My readers who have followed me, know that I choreograph most of the time the dances, in this chapter, however, I borrowed a dance from one of the most talented dancers in the world: ****Sofia Boutella! ****The dances and music belong to the one and only Madonna, my **_**La Vierge**_**!**

**1.**

Strong arms were holding her.

Celeste turned around and glanced into the most beautiful cerulean eyes she had ever seen in her entire life.

Clark smiled. "We have to go back," he whispered softly. "The gala will start in just a little over two hours."

Celeste closed her eyes and snuggled even deeper into the red cape, wrapped around their bare bodies.

"Can't we stay here forever?" she asked sleepily.

He kissed her gently on the top of her head, resting on his shoulder.

"I would love to, but you have a very big responsibility at the fundraiser gala and I honestly wouldn't miss the chance to see you dance to a song of one of the biggest pop queens in the world, my love."

Celeste's heart accelerated as she thought of dancing to a song—live—performed by no other than _La Vierge_. She smiled as she knew how much Clark loved watching her dance. But what wouldn't she give up to stay just a little bit longer! Sitting up to face him, she kissed his soft lips and wrapped her legs firmly around his torso. It didn't take him long to response to her attempts to seduce him. Smiling, Celeste deepened the kiss, as he put his hands to her adorable butt cheeks and squeezed them. Celeste let out a moan of pleasure at his move and looked cheekily into his eyes as she felt him getting ready for her.

"Celeste...," he said breathlessly, his voice husky. "...We... really... have... to go!" Even though this was just the opposite of what he wanted to do right now.

She stopped and curled her bottom lip in frustration. Summoning all her will power, she slipped out of his arms and picked up her clothes, which were scattered over the tropical beach, as crystal clear waves of saltwater swapped over her bare feet.

"Promise me we will come back and end what we just have started," she said to her husband when they were both dressed properly.

Clark kissed her deeply. "Promise!" he said, cupping her into his arms and shooting up into the sky.

As Celeste watched the island vanishing underneath them, she couldn't help but smile. Not every couple in this world had the chance to spend an afternoon for a little romantic getaway on a beautiful island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and she was well aware that this was very special and unique to their relationship.

* * *

><p>The Daily Planet Fundraising Gala was completely sold out.<p>

Most of the well and not so well known celebrities from all over the world attended to help the special cause to donate as much money as possible for the international organization _Médecins Sans Frontières_.

Celeste waited behind the stage for her performance. She couldn't believe it. Just a couple of months before, she had been contacted by no other than _La Vierge_ herself to ask her if she would agree to dance to one of her songs especially created for this gala.

Clark was watching the show accompanied by Jimmy, Perry, Richard and Lois in the Daily Planet lodge, located just next to the stage.

A few minutes later, the room got dark and a spotlight was focused on a Mediterranean man. He walked up to the microphone and blew a strange shaped horn a couple of times. Then music started to play in an oriental rhythm, united with the man's native tongue. When he started to sing the lyrics, a huge cage appeared on the stage with Celeste curled up on the floor, covered with a light blue silky cape, which also covered her head.

Pictures of a desert and a red sun were projected behind the cage, making the whole scene appearing very surreal.

The man blew once more in the horn. When the music started to play to a completely different beat, Celeste got up into a kneeling position and waved her body to all sides and then rolling on the floor, forming a beautiful figure together with the cape she was wearing over her body.

The audience cheered when _La Vierge _slowly walked up to the stage. Together with the words to the song, Celeste danced still glued on the floor. After the Arabic singer had repeated the chorus together with _La Vierge_, Celeste jumped from the cage floor and held on the bars for the next couple of words. Then she jumped back on the floor and danced around, trying to break free from her prison. After a minute, she went into a kneeling position, reaching her hand out of the cage.

_La Vierge_ went up to her and softly touched Celeste's hand. The front of the cage disappeared as if by magic.

Finally free, Celeste started to jump around the stage, forming beautiful figures with the cape. With the next chorus, she started spinning and spinning and spinning until the music stopped for a beat. _La Vierge_ walked slowly up to the dancer and Celeste slipped out of the burden of the cape. Underneath, she was wearing an oriental light blue dress-shirt and trousers. _La Vierge_ slowly touched Celeste's hand and grabbed the cape, looking longingly into the dancer's eyes. Now free, Celeste kneeled in front of the cage and tilted her head back, relieved.

When the music stopped another beat, Celeste got up and jumped in a big loop down the five stairs separating the main stage from an additional smaller stage, and positioned herself on her knees while slipping at least a couple of meters on the floor. In accordance with her dance, more pictures of the desert were projected. With her hand held up in the air, Celeste went into a split and within a second she was back onto her feet to dance to the beat. On the edge of the smaller stage, she got once more into the kneeling position and tilted her head back. Her beautiful, unbridled, blonde corkscrew curls almost touched the floor with this move, until the incredible light effects swallowed her and she finally vanished under the stage.

When the music relapsed into silence, the audience went absolutely ballistic. Every single viewer went up from their chair and applauded the amazing performance.

Celeste had felt like magic to their eyes and had pulled at their heartstrings with her moves, with her unbelievable energy, and freedom of movement.

Up in the lodge, Lois took Clark's hand and whispered into his ear. "Celeste is absolutely amazing. She really dances like a goddess," she said, stunned.

He turned his head and nodded. "I know," he confirmed with a big, proud smile on his face as _La Vierge _exited the stage.

A couple of minutes later, the two performers appeared again in front of the fundraising guests.

Celeste, now dressed in a skin-tight light-purple suit with white stripes of pearls across her top, took the microphone and cheered the crowd, which was chanting for an encore.

"It is our honor to represent the _Save Motherhood Initiative_ today," she started her speech. "My interest in this project is keen—ever more so due to the fact that my mother has been a midwife for more than 30 years. In the 1990s, a series of global conferences organized by the United Nations identified maternal mortality and morbidity as an urgent public health priority, and mobilized international commitment to address the problem. Governments from around the world pledged to ensure access to a range of high-quality, affordable reproductive health services, including safe motherhood and family planning, particularly to vulnerable and developing populations. _La Vierge_ and I have choreographed the last performance and we would like to acknowledge that it is not our intent to judge different beliefs, opinions and customs. We want, however, to create an awareness about the fact that not everybody in this world has the privilege to have excellent health care and ready access to it. Governments around the world have agreed to support the _Save Motherhood Initiative_ in this endeavor to make sure that by the year 2015 the maternal mortality and morbidity is cut by half around the world. To give a positive example and to support this goal, _La Vierge_ and I have spent our entire paycheck today to the _Save Motherhood Initiative_," Celeste stated as the whole auditorium applauded. After a few minutes, she resumed speaking. "_La Vierge_ and I am ready to perform an encore if this helps to make you all even more relaxed—and spend more of your money for this good cause. We will also participate in an auction where we both are available for dinner tonight for the person who donates the most," she said cheekily and smiled. "Thank you very much for your support!"

After the two women had exited the stage, the light switched to a dark blue mystic color. Slowly, _La Vierge_ and Celeste entered the stage again and went into their positions.

The music started to play and the two women circled with their hips to the beat. Jimmy, who somehow felt like in a deja vu, turned to Clark and looked at him, puzzled. The man sitting next to him just shrugged, as he had not idea what would come next. Celeste hadn't given anything away about a second dance.

Alexander, Celeste's former dancing partner, walked up to the stage and embraced the young ballet dancer from behind. When _La Vierge _started to sing, they circled their hips to the beat of the music. Celeste put her right arm up and pulled Alexander's head down to her cleavage as he softly ran his hands over her body. With the next move, he kissed her throat and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs slowly around him and Alexander bent his knees forward for a few beats to lift Celeste up over his head, spinning over the stage the next minute. On the other side he caught her again, caressing her and bending her body back. When she was in her initial position, he swirled her around him. They then started to dance as four other dancers appeared with them on the stage, dancing in unison with Celeste and Alexander. After the next chorus, Alexander lifted Celeste once more over his head and carried her to the other side of the stage. There, the young ballet dancer held on to her dancing partner as he knelt in front of her. When he got up again they joined the other dancers to continue to dance in unison. With the last chorus, _La Vierge _joined them too and when the music relapsed into silence, the crowd applauded and cheered the dancers as the curtain closed.

Jimmy looked at Clark and smiled widely. "I could swear I've seen something similar before." Clark just smiled back and excused himself.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes Later, Clark was standing in front of Celeste's changing room, knocking, and entering after she had asked him to come in. There she was, standing only dressed in her black lace underwear. When she saw him, she jumped into his arms and kissed him passionately.<p>

"Put your hands all over my body?" he repeated the lyrics of the second _La Vierge _song, raising an eyebrow.

She just bit her lower lip as she hadn't told him about the second performance and that Alexander would dance with her.

"It was very risqué to choreograph a performance such as that for a fundraiser gala like this!" Clark stated with feigned shock and hurt.

Celeste kissed him again. When they both tried to get some air, she smiled cheekily and wrapped her legs around him. "Tell me, what can I do? I'm so in love with you. You thrill me, surround me, you fill me; you put me in a trance... ," she whispered and caught his face to deepen her kiss.

Clark turned around and they both collapsed on the wall. He put one of his hands to her butt and squeezed it. Celeste couldn't help but moan. Clark let out a long sigh, his desire for her on a sky-high level. He put his other hand on her spine to unhook her black lace bra. When the fabric slowly slipped down her arms, he lowered his head and started to kiss her neck. Celeste tilted her head back to give him better access to her special spot, which usually melted her away in only seconds. She felt millions of butterflies flattering through her body when he started to suck on it.

"I'd like to put you in a trance!" he whispered into her ear, hooking his fingers into her panties and helping her out of them.

They just stopped long enough for him to get out of his clothes, too. When they were back into their initial position, Clark couldn't wait any longer. The woman in his arms made him crazy. He wanted to be close to her and fill her with all of his very being. Celeste let out a scream of passion when he started to make love to her. Slowly, she moved her hips in accordance to his thrusts as she looked deep into his eyes. It didn't took them long to fall over the edge.

After their climax, they both collapsed into each other's arms. Still on the high of the aftermath, Celeste kissed her husband passionately. "Have I ever told you why the Australian version of Romeo and Juliet was a scandal?"

He just smiled and brushed one of her locks behind her ear. "No you didn't," he realized. "But I read it all up for myself at the archive of the online edition of the _Sydney Morning Herald_," he explained to her as he brushed his lips over her exposed breasts. Celeste wasn't ready to let him go. She lifted his chin and kissed him, when a knock on the door made them jump.

Without even waiting for a response of the people in the room, the door opened and a brunette man stuck his head in.

"Wow, still the _lovebirds _you two, aren't you?" Mathieu realized, arching his left eyebrow with a cheeky smile on his face, when he saw them both pinned to the wall.

Clark had somehow managed to put on his trousers and dress shirt and held up a robe for his wife, with a big smile on his face, making sure that her naked body wasn't exposed to the uninvited visitor.

Celeste couldn't believe it, as a split second ago they had still been naked and practically made love. She cupped his chin and kissed him deeply. "Clark Kent, you never fail to surprise me!" she said, smiling lovingly.

Turning around, she looked at Mathieu with a happy smile. She hadn't had any contact with her ex-lover and now best friend for more than ten months. With the help of her husband, she slipped down the wall, put on the robe and walked up to Mathieu to hug him tightly.

"Mathieu," she said. "I'm so glad to see you! Even though your timing could have been a bit better," she pointed out as she blushed.

"Hi sweetheart!" he said, looking into her eyes. "Well as you know my timing is never perfect. Seriously, how do you do that?" he tried to change the topic to not embarrass his two friends any more. "Every time when I think you can't get any better in your dancing, you prove me wrong and you absolutely blow me away."

Celeste blushed even more at his statement.

"She_ is_ just amazing," Clark realized. "Hi Mathieu, long time no see. But seriously, could you please stop stumbling into our… er…intimate encounters?" He greeted his friend with a big grin.

"I'm sorry. I just can't help myself," Mathieu nodded to him and looked at his wristwatch. "To be honest, I didn't want to interrupt you _lovebirds_ in any way, but I was sent to get you sweetheart. The auction will be on in ten minutes."

Putting her hand to her mouth, Celeste realized that she had to hurry to be back at the gala in time. Placing another kiss on her husband's lips, she picked up his jacket and bow-tie, and shoved him and Mathieu out of her dressing room.

Outside, Mathieu formed a wide grin on his face. "Human men only think with a tiny little part of their brain, huh?" he reminded Clark of a conversation they both had had almost two years ago.

The man in front of him blushed crimson and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Well, I didn't say I'm not enjoying it," he replied with a smirk.

"I know," Mathieu said, smiling. "Clark, Oliver wants to talk to you in private after the auction," the Australian pilot revealed the real reason why he had come to Celeste's dressing room.

The man in front of him just nodded with a very concerned expression on his face. Usually, the team of superheroes tried to avoid being seen in public in their every day alter egos. Oliver asking for a meeting with Clark _at_ the gala was a sign for him to _really_ worry!


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: My dear readers, here is the next chapter for you ****:)**

**Busard: **Thanks for being the first reviewing this story ;)

**Astha22: **:D

**Deabra: **You made my day with your review! I'm an Ollie fan too… aaaand in this chapter you get to know _my_ favorite Smallville character :)

**Supesfan18: **There are some more characters from _Dance of Love_ on the way…

**A huge thanks goes to my betas Dragon166, and Astha22 as well as a special thanks to Supesfan18 for the creative input in this story!**

**2.**

Twenty minutes later, the fundraiser auction started. _La Viegre_ was the first to be auctioned off. She and Celeste had agreed to have dinner with the man or woman who bid the most.

Clark stood on the bottom of the stage and smiled at his wife. She just looked stunning in her beautiful long black chiffon dress. Her hair was up in a nice do and the black long gloves she was wearing accentuated her gorgeous appearance.

I didn't take long and _La Viegre _was auctioned off to a very rich Arabic oil sheikh.

When it was Celeste's turn, Richard, who was standing next to Clark, smiled at him. "Are you going to bid for your wife?"

Clark just smirked. "I'm afraid, I'm not as rich as these boy billionaires," he replied to his friend, looking bemusedly at Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne who were both standing on the other side of the room.

"Well from my point of view you are the richest man in the world as you have the honor of being married to her," Richard realized out loud.

His friend just laughed. "I know!"

The speaker went to the microphone for the second time and smiled.

"It is my honor to take the bids for the lovely Celeste Kent. Starting bid is ten thousand US dollars."

It was totally crazy; the number of people who bid for Celeste was just mind-blowing. Clark watched them, stunned, realizing that the highest bidder was on one million US dollars within a minute.

His wife just smiled as the bids continued to go higher and higher until Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne were the only bidders left. Both looked cheekily at Clark as they continued to push up the prize for a dinner with Celeste.

Clark let out a long sigh. The two playboy billionaires had planned this from the beginning, just to make his life as miserable as possible. He knew that for sure now.

Mathieu, who was standing on the other side of the room, just looked pitiful to the Daily Planet reporter who winced with every bid Oliver and Bruce shouted out. Smirking, he lifted his champagne glass and took a sip of the flagitiously expensive brewage.

"Wow, I didn't know that pilots could look so hot when they are not in their uniforms," an agreeable voice of a woman realized out just behind him.

Puzzled, Mathieu turned around and was stunned. He considered Celeste to be the most beautiful woman he had ever met. But the woman just standing in front of him was beyond beautiful, she was absolute perfection! Tilting his head, he took in her divine feminine appearance.

She was wearing a silky black dress. Her beautiful red hair was in a nice up do, and in her white gloved hands, she was holding a champagne glass, looking at him with her deep green eyes.

"Excuse me?"

The woman just smiled and extended her hand. "Tess Mercer, acting CEO of Luthercorp," she introduced herself.

Shaking her hand, Mathieu was stunned. "As in Lex Luthor's Luthorcorp?" he asked just to make sure he had heard her right the first time.

"The one and only," she confirmed.

Running a hand through his brown hair, he said. "I didn't know that Luthorcorp has a new CEO."

Tess nodded. "I've been in this position since this morning," she explained and locked eyes with him.

Mathieu gulped.

"And you are?" she asked.

"Mathieu Perontier," he said, not being able to escape her stare.

"A man with a French name, an Australian accent, living in the United States. What an interesting combination," she realized as she looked over the rim of her champagne glass and taking a sip just a moment later.

"My parents are from France. I grew up in Australia, and live in St... Star City," he started to stutter.

Oliver Queen, who had noticed Tess having a conversation with his private pilot, excused himself and left the group of elderly men standing with him. Walking up to them both, he gave the sign to the auction speaker that he was out of the game, when the highest bid was at ten million dollars, to give Bruce Wayne the honor to go to the dinner with the Australian ballet dancer.

"Mercy, what are you doing here?" he snapped at Tess, once he was standing in front of her.

"Oliver," she exhaled irritated, adding sarcastically, "What a nice surprise!"

"Ten million dollars for the first, second, and…," the speaker said as he lifted the hammer.

"Fifty million dollars," another man yelled out his bid.

All the people attending the auction, including Tess, Oliver, and Mathieu gasped and turned around to find out who had joined in last minute to bid for Celeste.

When Clark realized who the eager man was, he could just manage to swear. "Shit," he murmured, concerned.

Richard looked puzzled at Clark. "What happened?"

Clark shifted nervously from one foot the other. "Have you ever heard about Borysko Nicolaev?"

Lois, who had been on the other side of the room walked up to her husband and Clark and looked pleadingly into her friend's eyes.

"Clark! You can't let Celeste go to a date with this hypocrite," she begged him.

"I know," he answered as he helplessly watched his wife getting auctioned off to the richest man in the world who had quite a big criminal record about sexual harassment. Unfortunately for the victims, Borysko Nicolaev's money, and very effective connections to certain key law enforcers made it almost impossible to sentence him for his cruel crimes against women.

"And you will let Borysko Nicolaev go off with her to that dinner?" Tess asked Oliver beyond believe.

The billionaire just shrugged. There was nothing he could do right now. Even though he knew that disaster was bound to occur. Borysko Nicolaev was anything but an honorable man. Especially when it came to women.

Mathieu looked at them both. "You know each other?" he asked puzzled, "And what's up with the man winning a dinner with Celeste?"

* * *

><p>Smiling like a little boy who had just won the first prize in a lottery, Borysko Nicolaev walked up the stage and took the hand of the graceful ballet dancer. They walked down the stairs, where Clark was already waiting for his wife. He had a notepad and a pencil in his hand, silently hoping that the Ukrainian billionaire did not know that he was married to the woman he had just paid to have dinner with.<p>

Looking at the small and very smart looking man, he adjusted his glasses and shifted his attention to Celeste. "May I have an interview Mrs. Kent?"

Absolutely furious about the rude interruption of his dinner with the ballet dancer by the insulting journalist, the Ukrainian billionaire held his arm between the reporter and the ballet dancer, yelling at Clark, "I don't think the lady wants to be mutilated by a journalist at this time of the day."

"I can take care of myself," Celeste explained calmly to Borysko Nicolaev, looking very determined into his eyes as she shifted her glance to look into the cerulean eyes of the man she loved. She was more than puzzled. Noticing that her husband was extremely twitchy, she excused herself and followed him behind the huge velvet curtain, located next to the stage.

"What is wrong with you?" she whispered, concerned, looking around to see if somebody had noticed them vanishing behind the curtains.

Clark let out a long sigh and looked deep into her eyes. "Celeste, you can't have dinner with this man," he said breathlessly.

Frowning, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you jealous?" she asked indignantly.

He just rolled his eyes. "Who wouldn't be jealous of anybody having dinner with you?" he asked with a smirk. "Celeste, this man is very well known pander," he continued more seriously. "He is famous for humiliating women. I don't want you to be alone with him for even a second."

With his words, Celeste's expression became soft. He was really concerned about her. Walking closer to him, she cupped his face, "You don't have to worry; I'm a big girl," she tried to reassure him. Clark still wasn't convinced and she could see it in his eyes. "And by the way, I won't be alone with him. _La Vierge _and the sheikh will be with us all the time." Placing a quick kiss on his lips, she smiled. "No need to worry, okay?" she said over her shoulder as she walked back to the Ukrainian billionaire.

Her husband watched her until he felt a touch on his shoulder. Turning his head, he realized Oliver standing next to him.

"Can we talk for a second?" the blonde man whispered into his friend's ear.

Clark turned his head again and glanced concerned at Celeste who was about to take off to her dinner with Borysko Nicolaev. Turning to face Oliver, he nodded.

They looked for a room where they could talk in private.

"So this was your wife. I have to admit, you are a lucky bastard," Oliver joked with a cheeky smile on his face after he had closed the door. "No wonder you've hidden her from us for all that time, which was by the way a very bad idea," he added.

The tall man in front of him tucked his hands into the pockets of his trousers and smiled. "I noticed. But you know exactly why I haven't introduced her to the Justice League," he explained.

"Well, I get it. You just don't want her to be in the middle of the action and seriously, I don't blame you," Oliver realized out loud.

Clark shifted a bit and looked with a concerned expression into Oliver's eyes. "Something tells me that you haven't asked me for a word to tell me how amazing my wife is."

Now Oliver got more serious. "No. Unfortunately there is a very serious cause behind this. Bruce was digging into some files of _Rothul Industries_ when _Wayne Industries_ took over the company and he made a very worrying discovery."

"_Rothul Industries_? The subsidiary company of _Luthorcorp_?" Clark asked surprised.

"Yes, Boy Scout," Oliver confirmed. "Bruce discovered that Lex Luthor is digging around in the Cambodian rain forest and we don't know what he is up to."

"When did you find this out?" Clark asked puzzled.

"Just a couple of hours ago. And to make things even worse, I just found out some other alarming news, Lex Luthor has passed on all of his authorizations to Tess Mercer, his new CEO of _Luthorcorp_. Clark, there is something really big going on here. Do you think you could check out what this little pathetic punk is up to?" Oliver asked concerned.

Clark nodded. This all was an indication, that Lex Luthor was more dangerous than ever. They needed to stop him. Not only for Jason, his son, but also for the rest of the world. Just when he wanted to answer Oliver, he suddenly noticed Celeste's heartbeat accelerating rapidly. Looking up, and turning his head in the direction where he had located her heartbeat, he supersped away.

Oliver just shrugged. "Yeah right. I know I sometimes bore you stiff, but could you at least pretend to be interested?"

* * *

><p>Borysko Nicolaev had ambushed the young ballet dancer into a dark corner outside the building where the fundraising gala took place, by asking her charmingly if she wanted to accompany him while he was having a smoke. Now, he walked slowly up to the young woman and forced a kiss on her lips. Shocked, Celeste glanced into his cold and blank eyes, pushing him away from her as far as she could. But he didn't care about the fact that she didn't want him to touch her. With even more force, he pressed her against the wall and ripped her dress open.<p>

"Too bad you haven't got a body guard," he said sarcastically, trying to put a hand on the secret place between her legs.

Celeste looked at him with her eyes wide open. Just when she wanted to lift her knee to fight him off, she felt a gust of wind accompanied with a loud woooooosh.

With a relieved sigh she smiled and gathered her dress together. "Who says I don't have one?"

* * *

><p>Borysko Nicolaev was terrified when the dizziness of the superspeeding had faded away and he finally realized that he was hanging upside down on the edge on the roof-top of the Daily Planet.<p>

"What is going on here?" he screamed in fear.

"Hasn't your mother taught you how to behave in the presence of a lady?" Superman asked in his low voice, holding only on to Borysko Nicolaev's right foot. He could barely hold it together after what he had just witnessed.

"What do you mean? That ballet whore? Every woman I have to pay for is a _pavement princess_. Period. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

The next thing Borysko Nicolaev noticed was the ground coming dangerously close to his face. Just when his nose was an inch away from the hard, wet and cold concrete, Superman caught the Ukrainian billionaire midair and shot back with him on to the roof-top, to put him in the same position as he was before.

"You son of a bitch! You really dropped me!" Borysko Nicolaev screamed, hysterical and beyond belief, once he was able to speak again. "I will tell this to the press and the news channels - everyone around the world shall know what you have just done to me."

Superman just laughed out loud. "Go on tell them if you want. I'm more than certain that your reputation is gone, once I confirm what I have just seen. Even the best lawyer in the world wouldn't try to object against my testimony." He shook Borysko Nicolaev a bit and looked at him with a serious expression in his face. "Now, do I have to repeat myself?"

Absolutely terrified by the sheer thought of Superman dropping him a second time, Borysko Nicolaev surrendered. "Okay, okay! I didn't treat the lady with respect. I'm totally sorry for this and it will never happen again," he stated, as big pearls of sweat were running down his nose.

The next thing he felt was his feet back on the ground.

Superman patted his shoulders. "This wasn't too hard, was it?" he asked and looked seriously into the billionaire's eyes. "I want you to go back to the lady and apologize for your absolutely inappropriate behavior." Borysko Nicolaev nodded and was about to walk away. "And," Superman continued, tapping at one of his ears. "Don't even try to play tricks. I can hear you from anywhere in the world." With these words he tilted his head back and shot up into the sky, leaving behind the very shaken up billionaire.

Back at the fundraising event, Clark scanned the dimmed ballroom for a sign of Celeste. Passing by Mathieu and Tess, who danced closely with each other, he spotted her on the dance floor together with Alexander Nilson, who was twirling her around. She had changed into a stunningly long and formfitting crimson dress, which suited her perfectly. Walking up to them, Clark extended his hand and glanced at Alexander.

"Can I take over?"

The Swedish dancer smiled, said hello to Clark, and kissed Celeste's hand before walking to the other side of the dance floor, asking his wife to share a dance with him.

Lifting her gaze to look at her husband, Celeste made eye contact with him and felt her heartbeat accelerating. Cuddling into his arms, she asked. "Is he still alive?"

Clark kissed her passionately, absolutely relieved that she was okay.

"Barely," he replied after he had released her lips.

They started to dance to the beautiful blues. The young ballet dancer closed her eyes and drifted away in her thoughts. In Clark's arms was the place where she knew she was safe for the rest of her life. When she felt a cold and sweaty hand on her shoulders, she jumped. Shaken a bit, she turned around and looked into the cold eyes of Borysko Nicolaev, as Clark became extremely tense in her arms.

"Mrs. Kent, I would like to apologize for my earlier behavior," the billionaire stated with a trembling voice and clenched teeth. "It was absolutely inappropriate to treat a dame like you so disrespectfully." Turning around, he walked away, looking up to the ceiling. "Did you hear that Superman? I apologized. No need to come after me again," he whispered angrily.

After the Ukrainian man had vanished, Celeste looked deeply into her husband's eyes, who couldn't suppress a chuckle. "What did you do to him?" she asked accusingly.

Shrugging, he looked at the floor. Somehow the pattern of the flawlessly waxed wood underneath his shining black shoes was more interesting for him at the moment.

"I let him drop from the rooftop of the Daily Planet," he finally admitted, sweeping her back into his arms, before she could start arguing with him. Bending her body slowly back to the beat of the music, he glanced deep into her shocked eyes, and added, "Nobody has the right to treat the woman I love like he did and he just got the punishment for his inappropriate behavior towards you!"


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: My dear readers, finally the next chapter. Sorry for the delay :)**

**Busard and Supesfan18, thank you very much for reviewing the last chapter!**

**A huge thanks goes to my betas Dragon166, and Astha22 as well as a special thanks to Supesfan18 for the creative input in this story!**

**3.**

Clark was standing in front of the big doors separating Tess Mercer from him. Slowly, he lifted his hand to touch the handle, when all of the sudden the doors opened magically by themselves.

Walking into the big room, he felt a shiver running down his spine. Being in the wolf's cave was a very surreal feeling for him. He knew that it was very risky to conduct this interview so close to Lex Luthor, but Perry White had assigned him to talk to the new acting CEO of Luthorcorp and unfortunately for him, there was no way to back out of this job.

"Mr. Kent?" a very smooth voice asked.

Looking up, he saw the red-haired woman sitting behind the huge desk.

He sat down opposite of her and adjusted his glasses. "Yes. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to conduct this interview with you Miss Mercer," he replied as he whipped his notepad and a pen out of his briefcase.

"My pleasure," she answered with a cheeky smile. "I just realized that moving to Metropolis has its benefits."

Glancing up into her eyes, the reporter asked puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Standing up to get two glasses from the mini bar, she poured some Single Malt in each of them, walked up to Clark and sat on the edge of the desk just in front of him, shameless displaying her breathtaking legs under her _very_ short skirt.

"I've been here for less than a week, but have already had the honor to meet two of the most handsome guys in this town," she explained, glancing deep into his blue eyes as she handed him the whiskey.

Clearing his throat, he shifted a bit on his chair and put the glass on the table. "So, is this your first job as an acting CEO?" he tried to guide her back to the interview.

Tess slipped slowly out of her high heels and put her left foot on his right thigh. "Yes," she whispered, smiling cheekily at him.

Jumping out of his chair, Clark glanced at her with his eyes wide open blinking in disbelieve.

Licking her lips, she slid a bit closer to him, putting both her hands on his chest. "I've been working for Lex Luthor for many years," she explained very amused about his nervousness in her presence.

"And what happened that he made the decision to give you the authority over his company?" Clark came straight to the point, trying to escape her unequivocal attempts to seduce him.

Now the woman in front of him got really tense. He could hear her heartbeat accelerating rapidly, confirming that he had hit a nerve.

"Well, as you may know, he is very busy with his space project _Prometheus_," she said with a shaky voice as she slipped back into her shoes and walked around the desk to sit down.

Relieved that she had put some distance between them, Clark sat back on his chair and wrote some notes in his pad. Opening his mouth, he wanted to ask a more specific question about Lex Luthor's new project, when the phone on the desk rang.

Tess looked at the caller's ID and glanced calmly back into his eyes. "I think you took enough of my time Mr. Kent. The interview is over," she decided and waited until he had left the room.

Grumbling silently, before picking up the phone, she said very nervously "Yes," into the speaker.

"We have to talk," the person on the other end of the line simply said and hung up.

Outside the office, Clark had eavesdropped the conversation. I didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that it had been Lex.

Concerned, he jumped into the elevator and grabbed his mobile phone out of his coat pocket. Waiting for a couple of minutes, he rolled his eyes. It was a real nightmare to get Oliver Queen on the phone. Pushing the red button, he waited until he was out of the _Luthorcorp_ building, before he tried again to contact the boy billionaire. When Oliver finally picked up, Clark sighed. "Tess Mercer is quite the Femme Fatale," he realized out loud as he heard is friend laughing out loud on the other end of the line. "You were right," he confirmed more seriously after Oliver had recovered from his giggles, "There is something big going on at Luthorcorp!"

* * *

><p>Her cell phone rang. Celeste pressed the bottom of the hands-free speaking system in her car.<p>

"Celeste?" The voice on the other end of the line asked.

"Clark," Celeste realized, starting to smile. "Where are you?"

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I'm running a bit late. Could you please pick up the children without me?"

Celeste sighed. "No worries, I'm already on my way to Lois."

"Thank you," he said. "I love you," Clark added hastily and was gone.

Smiling Celeste replied "I love you, too," in the already silent system. He was obviously caught in the middle of something.

While she was turning at the next corner, Celeste's cell rang again. Picking it up, she asked cheekily "Forgot something?"

"Mrs. Kent?"

"Yes. Who am I speaking to?" she asked surprised.

"My name is Chung Hong," a man on the other end of the line with a strong Chinese accent said. "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure. How can I help you?"

"I want to make you an offer," he stated. "I'm a Hollywood movie producer."

_Hollywood?_ Celeste thought. "And what do you exactly want from me?" she asked, puzzled.

"Please let me explain the reason why I'm calling. I have followed your career for the past two years, and I have to admit, I especially liked the two performances you gave at the Daily Planet fundraiser event. My sponsors and I are planning to make a blockbuster about a dancer from the Middle West of America moving to Metropolis to find her fortune in the world's biggest metropole for dancers. There she will meet the man of her dreams, also a dancer, and they both will make their way up to success," he outlined his proposal.

"Oh!" Celeste said, finally realizing what he wanted from her. "And you want me to play a part in this movie?" she asked, _very_ surprised.

"Yes. I want you to play the female lead," Chung Hong got excited. "What do you think about this offer?"

Stopping in front of Lois and Richard's house, the young ballet dancer picked up the phone, and put it to her left ear.

"Wow. Well... This is a bit… unexpected. I don't know. I have a really good contract here at the Metropolis Dancing Theatre. Mr. Hong I don't want to be rude, but I'm kind of busy at the moment. Can we talk about your offer at another time?" she tried to get rid of the man, at the same time knocking at the door in front of her.

"Please think about it. I will try to contact you in a couple of days for more specific details," Chung Hong said. Somehow he sounded very disappointed.

"Okay. Thanks for your call, but I have to go," Celeste apologized and closed the phone the moment the door opened.

Jason stood in front of her and jumped directly into her arms.

"Celeste!" he yelled out excited.

"Hi Jason. Are you ready? Have you got all of your stuff?"

The eight-year-old boy smiled and pointed to the stairs where approximately 5 bags were dumped in front of the stairs.

"But this is not all yours?" Celeste asked surprised and a bit worried as all this stuff and two children wouldn't fit into her car at all.

"No," Lois stated, and walked up to the other woman to give her a firm hug. "One is Jasmine's, and the other three are ours. Thank you so much for taking care of the children for the next couple of days."

"My pleasure," Celeste said sincerely as she walked with Lois into the kitchen, where Richard was just about to give his 18-month-old daughter something to eat. The ballet dancer placed a kiss on his cheek and grabbed Jasmine to also give her a kiss. The little girl started to giggle when she saw her godmother.

"Are you ready, too?" She asked her, as Richard stood up.

"Yes," he said. "We just finished."

"Good. Then let's go. Your parents deserve a weekend all alone," Celeste said as she smiled cheekily at Richard, carrying Jasmine to her car.

When Celeste had finally managed to get Jason, Jasmine, and all their stuff _into_ her car and had wished Richard and Lois a _very_ _relaxing_ weekend with a cheeky smile, she jumped into the driver's seat, and turned around to face the children.

"Where's dad?" Jason asked.

"He called me an hour ago. Apparently he is very busy at the moment."

The little boy just nodded.

* * *

><p>Before Celeste could drive back to her and Clark's apartment, she needed to do some grocery shopping.<p>

Embracing the challenge to do the weekly shopping with two children in her wake, she walked through the aisles and picked up the items from the shelves as Jason read out the shopping list when all of the sudden, an oriental man approached her.

"Mrs. Kent?" he asked.

Celeste nodded slowly, a bit annoyed to why this stranger had approached her. He even knew her name.

"I didn't know you have children," he said as he ruffled through Jason's hair. The boy just looked at the man—rolling very bothered his eyes about the fact that the stranger had had the nerve to touch him.

"Well, there are so many things you don't know about me. What do you want?" the ballet dancer asked, crossing her arms over her chest and looking demandingly at him.

The man got a bit nervous. "I'm really sorry to bother you Mrs. Kent, but I'm the man who called you an hour ago."

"What?" was all Celeste could ask.

"Yes. And I'm really sorry that I'm literally hanging around your heels, but I'm not leaving before I have an answer."

Celeste sighed deeply. "You are Mr. Chung Hong?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"Yes that's me," he confirmed.

Now Celeste got really angry. Who was this man to follow her, when she was just about to do the shopping for the week with two children on top of it?

"Mr. Chung Hong, I don't want to be rude, but who do you think you are? If you want to offer me a job then do it like all the others: _through my agent_. Have a nice day," she snapped, turned around, and walked away with Jasmine and Jason, leaving the man standing alone in the nappy section.

When Celeste was about to check out at the cashiers, another man approached her.

_Great_, she thought, blowing a blond corkscrew curl out of her face, _what is it today? Annoying Celeste Day? _However, when the man grabbed her arm and rammed his gun into her ribs, her eyes widened in shock.

"Mrs. Kent?" he asked sweetly.

Celeste just blinked and nodded, looking at Jason and Jasmine. The boy had already noticed that something was quite off. When Celeste realized that he was starting to look sick, she got _very_ concerned.

"What do you want from me?" she tried to get the man's attention away from Jason who had also noticed the change in the boy.

"A fan of yours sent me. I assume you know whom I mean. The one who likes big ships and islands."

The young woman tried to escape his vice-like grip. "Wow. I thought he was smart. But sending you to do the job is the dumbest thing I've ever seen him doing," she shouted at him to attract attention.

The man looked around and realized that some of the people nearby were staring at them. He grabbed Celeste more firmly than before and shoveled her and the kids into another row, where nobody was shopping at the moment.

"Shut up bitch!" he spat at her. "Or I will kill you and the little girl."

All Celeste could do was keep her mouth shut. She didn't want the man to hurt the kids. But she also knew that she needed to take some action. When the man was just about to grab Jason, she got a hold of his hand.

"If you touch this boy you will get to know me!" she yelled.

The man looked at her and grabbed her by the throat to choke her. His expression was a mixture out of annoyance and triumph as Jason let out a scream. When the man looked at the little boy, he just stopped screaming, terrified.

"Listen to me. This is my last warning. One more word and you and the toddler here are dead. Got that?" the man threatened impatiently.

Celeste nodded as he slowly loosened the grip.

"Honey, what did you mean by eggplant casserole?" a man suddenly asked, coming out of one of the shelves, adjusting his glasses, and glancing questioning at Celeste, but stopping a few feet away from them.

Within a split second the man, who still had the young woman on her throat, let go of the ballet dancer and looked at her. "Next time you won't be so lucky bitch," he whispered into her ear and walked away.

Celeste just collapsed into her husband's arms, who had walked up to embrace her, the second the invader had been out of sight.

As she tried to get some air into her lungs, she realized out loud, "Talk about perfect timing," looking up at him and putting a hand on her throat.

Clark brushed his fingers over her cheeks. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes. How did you know that we needed you?" she asked him puzzled.

"Your heartbeat," he explained. "And Jason's."

Celeste slapped her forehead. "Of course. Sorry I'm a bit shaken up. The man not only wanted to threaten me, but also kidnap Jason," she told him.

Clark looked at his son. "I know. Are you okay buddy?" he asked. The boy just nodded and jumped into his father's arms. He felt much better now.

The young woman was surprised. "How did you know?"

"Kryptonite," Clark answered as he grabbed the trolley to get them out of the shopping center.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: My dear readers, **Finally the new chapter... :) **I am sooo sorry for the long wait! **

**Busard: **Tess' intentions will start to get a bit more clear with the next chapter...

**Ox King: **I was really blown away by your review! Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with me and I'm very glad you like my little AU stories :)

**A huge thanks goes to my betas Dragon166, and Astha22 as well as a special thanks to Supesfan18 for the creative input in this story!**

**4.**

"Celeste?" Jason asked on their drive back home from the shopping center.

The young woman looked into the rearview mirror while still keeping an eye on the road. "What's up?" she asked, pressing out a smile. She was still not in the condition to think straight.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned.

She gulped and fought back the tears as she nodded. She didn't want him to notice that she was still very shaken up. The thought that something bad could have happened to him or Jasmine still sent million of shivers down her spine.

The car went quiet as Jason plopped back into his seat. Clark just looked at his wife. He could feel the tension rolling off her. Releasing a long sigh, he stared out of the window. A year ago, Lex Luthor and Kitty Kowalski had been sighed in public after almost killing Superman with blue Kryptonite six months before. The criminal mastermind had been immediately arrested and imprisoned while there had been no charges against his female companion. Unfortunately, the district attorney hadn't had any chance to press charges against Luthor either. Not the robbery in the museum, not the creation of New Krypton, and certainly not for almost killing Superman. Lex had come free after only twenty-four hours in prison.

Clark was so angry right now. It had been sheer luck that he had heard Celeste's heartbeat shooting up rapidly. When he had arrived at the supermarket, he had instantly noticed the Kryptonite, making it impossible for him to help his wife, his son and Lois' and Richard's little girl as Superman. _How lucky that I could scare him away just by showing up_, he thought. Lex Luthor was a genius when it came to planing a crime, but what had happened at the supermarket indicated that his archenemy was absolutely desperate. Something was really off and this concerned him greatly. Celeste was in great danger and so was Jason. With another sigh he turned his head and looked at Jason. He needed to make sure that they were safe. He couldn't afford something like the incident at the supermarket to be happening again. This was why he made the decision to cut back his duties as Superman until he was sure they were absolutely safe.

Celeste didn't want to face her husband. She knew that he was concerned. He had told her often enough, but she had always played the threat down as she thought the criminal had no reason to threaten her as he didn't know that Clark Kent was Superman. But unfortunately, she hadn't realized that Lex would do anything to go after Jason in order to threaten Superman and therefore after the people who spent time with the young boy. She felt bad, really bad and she had to admit that she was really scared to see the monster again as an ice cold shiver ran down her spine just by thinking of it.

Sighing, she glanced at her husband, who took gently her hand and squeezed it.

* * *

><p>Clark was sitting on the floor later that evening, his legs crossed, cuddled up with Celeste who was sitting in his lap and kissing him passionately. Stripping off her top, he smiled.<p>

"What are you doing?" she asked sheepily, nodding into direction of the room where Jason and Jasmine were sleeping. She was really relieved that he hadn't lectured her at all about what had happened in the supermarket.

He stopped, x-rayed the room, smiled, and looked deep into her green eyes.

"Celebrating the second anniversary when we met the first time."

"That's not fair Mr. Kent. Your son saw me first," Celeste protested, trying to stand up. "I should get some lime squash and have a toast with him," she said as her whole face lit up with her gorgeous smile.

Catching her arm, he swept her back into his lap and placed a passionate kiss on her lips. "Yes. But it was my coat that kept you warm that night," he stated mischievously as he helped her out of her pyjama bottoms, leaving her sitting naked in his lap.

Celeste moaned. She didn't want to wait any longer and shifted her body to straddle on his strong thighs.

Kissing him passionately, she confessed, "Have I ever told you, that I felt asleep wrapped in your coat?"

"No," he realized beween her kisses as he also got rid of his clothes. "But I knew the moment I had the coat back."

Now Celeste stopped kissing him.

"How?" she asked curiously.

He just shifted a bit and started to make love with her very slowly.

"Because it smelled irresistibly of your perfume," he whispered, closing his eyes, enjoying to be so close to her and having her safe in his arms.

Celeste just smiled as a little moan escaped her throat. They both got lost in their intimate movements as silent snow flakes began falling on the floor outside of the apartment.

* * *

><p>Celeste woke up as she heard Jasmine crying. She and Clark were still lying on the floor, where they had made love before, and she was somehow tangled in between Clark's legs and arms. When she stood up, he shifted a bit.<p>

"What happened?" he asked sleepily, slowly opening his eyes.

As his wife got up from the floor, she said "Lois told me that Jasmine's molar teeth are about to break through and that she is sometimes very unsettled during the night."

She slipped into her nightgown and walked into the office, where Jasmine was standing in the travel bed. Thick tears were rolling down the little girl's cheeks as she was putting one of her fist into her mouth.

"Oh my poor darling," Celeste said and swept the crying child in her arms.

"Hm... Is she okay?" Jason turned around to face Celeste, still half asleep.

Clark, who had come into the room right after Celeste, tousled his son's hair and bent down to give him a kiss on his brow.

"She's okay buddy. Just a bit of a tooth ache," he explained.

Jason nodded. "Mmmmmmmkay," and turned around to continue sleeping.

Celeste just smiled and went out of the room.

"Could you please pass me on the Nurofen? Lois asked me to give it to her when she is too unsettled," she asked her husband while trying to soothe the crying girl and brushing her tears from her face with her palms.

After she had given her the medicine, she tucked Jasmine in between her and Clark in their bed. The girl was still upset, but eventually the Nurofen started to work and she fell asleep in Celeste's arms.

Clark sweeped a blonde lock of hair out of Celeste's face and tucked it behind her ear and glanced dreamingly into her deep green eyes.

"I love you," he stated and smiled.

"I love you, too," his wife replied and kissed him passionately on his lips.

She glanced deep into his eyes and bit her bottom lip as she evaluated if she should tell him what else had happened that day.

"I got an offer to play a role in a Hollywood movie before this stupid henchman guy showed up and tried to kidnap Jason," she finally told him the big news of the day.

"What?" Clark shouted out, now sitting upright.

"Sssssssssschhhhhhhhhhtttttt," Celeste tried to calm him down. When Clark saw that Jasmine started to cry again, he apologized as he took the little girl into his arms to soothe her. The moment Jasmine was in his arms, she closed her eyes again and felt instantly asleep.

Celeste tilted her head to the left.

"How do you do that?" she asked, smiling.

"I'm just irresistible with women. This is just one of my abilities. Did you forget?" he teased her.

"How could I?" Celeste replied, sitting up and catching his chin to kiss him.

"Tell me about the offer," he asked when she had released his lips again.

With a long sigh, Celeste crossed her legs and brushed a strain of raven black hair out of his face.

"The producer of the movie called me today. His name is Chung Hong. He even showed up in the grocery shop to get an answer out of me."

"What? He stalked you?" Clark asked, looking concernedly into her eyes.

"Don't worry. I scared him away," she reassured him.

Now he smiled. "I bet you did. What did he offer you exactly?"

Celeste sighed. "A lead role in a movie about a dancer moving into the big city to find her fortune."

"Wow. That sounds familiar," he realized.

"Yes it certainly does. Anyway, I'm not sure if I want to take the offer. I mean, he didn't have the chance to explain how I would be involved, but apart from this, I'm not sure if we can afford to have people snooping into our lives. Especially with what's going on at the moment with Lex Luthor."

Now Clark looked deep into her eyes.

"You mean snooping into my life."

She just shrugged. "Yes, in your and Superman's life. What if one of this bloody paparazzis somehow gets a hint?"

Clark bent a bit forward and smiled in his sweetest smile.

"What makes you think you will be famous after the movie is released?"

She burst out into laugher.

"Clark Jerome Kent," she stated between her giggles. "You are the cheekiest boy I have ever met!"

Clark smiled, got up, and carried Jasmine into her bed where she continued to sleep. When he came back into the bed, he cuddled up into Celeste's arms.

"What do_ you_ want to do?" he asked and looked at her provocative.

"Well considering he offered me a lead role in a Hollywood blockbuster," she tried to explain, "I would really like to do it. It's so exciting just to think about it."

"Then why don't you try it?"

Celeste sat up and looked at him.

"Are you sure you really can't get Alzheimer's Disease? I just told you why," she said, frustrated, curling her bottom lip to make her point.

"Celeste, I heard you, but I will not stand in your way. And Superman certainly won't either. It's your life, and if you want to do it, then what are you waiting for?"

"Are you really okay with it?" she asked anxiously.

He nodded. "Yes. I will support you with any decision you will make and I will stand one hundred percent behind you."

Now his wife hugged him so hard that he was almost falling out of the bed.

"Thank you, thank you! I love you. I love you. I l-o-v-e you! I will make sure no paparazzo will ever come near us. I promise," she exclaimed excitedly as she was at the same time overwhelmed about the fact that even though they were in real danger and threatened by the foxiest villain in the world, her husband somehow managed to make her feel like they were living a normal life.

Clark caught her chin and kissed her gently. "You're welcome!" he said softly as he released her lips.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: My dear readers, this is the longest chapter so far...**

**Busard: **Thank you sooo much for your review :)

**A huge thanks goes to my betas Dragon166 and Astha22!**

**5.**

Clark walked into the apartment, completely soaked from the rain, and tossed his keys into the bowl where they usually stayed. The conversation with Lois about the incidence at the supermarket still echoed in his ears. Of course Lois' had been furious, especially as he and Celeste had made the decision to not rip her and Richard out of their romantic weekend and had waited until the couple had come back to tell them about the almost abduction of Jason. After an endless discussion about how to take care of the problem, Lois and Clark hadn't found a satisfactory solution about how to protect their son. At the end of the two hours long argument, they had at least agreed that they wouldn't leave the little boy alone from now on until Lex Luthor was behind bars for good, which was quite an optimistic assumption about getting the villain into prison at all.

Sighing about the fact that he had promised to Lois to also talk to Richard about the incident as Superman, he slipped out of his coat and spotted Celeste dancing in the living room to some earsplitting Dance track. A4 pages, with dancing steps on them where scattered everywhere in the apartment - on the floor, on the table, and on the chairs. In the middle of all the mess, was Celeste, practicing some positions Clark knew in his sleep by now, wearing her short ballet pants, a bustier, and her favorite ballet shoes. Her body was covered in sweat, a sign that she had already trained for quite a while. As she went into the Arabesque position and shortly after that into Attitude to end with a Fouetté rond de jambe en tournant, Clark wondered why she did not practice in the ballet studio. He actually hadn't expected her to be at home at all.

As the music was still on a deafening level, she hadn't noticed him coming back home. Walking slowly up to her and embracing her from behind, he pushed her against the window, she was standing in front of, doing some stretching exercises, and whispered "I love to watch you dance," into her ear.

Celeste, who was totally surprised by this move, let out a small scream. His wet clothes against her exposed skin caused her to hold her breath for a couple of seconds. He moved slowly closer and pushed her even more firmly against the cold glass, at the same time brushing his lips over her sweat soaked neck as thick drops of water out of his hair spiraled down her shoulder.

Moaning silently, Celeste closed her eyes, went back on pointe, lifted her arms up to catch his head, and pulled him closer to kiss his lips. "I thought you wouldn't be back until after the press conference?" she asked as a slight smile escaped her lips, her eyes still closed.

"I thought so, too," he smiled. "But a rain shower came in my way and forced me to have a pitstop to change my clothes."

As he slowly brushed his hands under her bustier to caress her breasts, she collapsed with her whole body on his chest and started to breath heavily. "I can't say I don't like the surprise," she whispered between his kisses and his hands vanishing into her training pants.

"I thought you would be in the dancing studio," he whispered into her ears.

Not able to form a straight though with his touch, Celeste just stuttered, "Agent… Call… Audition in two days… Movie… Ballet studio… Occupied today…"

Clark couldn't help, but smirk by her attempts to form a sentence that actually made sense. He loved to have that effect on her.

The only thing Celeste could think of was to concentrate on her breathing as she was dangerously close to hyperventilating. She felt as if his hands were all over her body and figured that this actually most likely was the case.

When he suddenly stopped, her eyes flew open in surprise. Turning around to face him, she realized that he was already standing in his Supermansuit in front of her, looking at her with regret.

She just shrugged as this hadn't been the first time something more important had come in between their love life.

Walking up to her, he cupped her face softly with his hands and kissed her passionately. "Lunch at our place in an hour?" he asked, smiling.

"You buy!" she syrupy smiled back. The next thing she felt was a gust of wind leaving her behind, shivering.

* * *

><p>Oliver stood in front of the huge mirrors in his studio and swung a stick, practicing some moves. Being one of the few 'normal' humans in the team of superheros meant for him that he had to be physically top fit in order to keep up with them.<p>

As he turned around and swung the stick in long wide moves, he noticed a woman clearing her throat from the other side of the room.

"So that's what you do when you are not writing cheques and grinning for the cameras?" she asked irritated.

Looking up, he smiled. "Mercy, what a pleasant surprise!" he exclaimed as he walked up to her. "When I asked your secretary to book me an appointment, I actually had in mind to call you later this afternoon, not you showing up at my place," he added with a boyish grin.

Tess just lifted her hand and inspected her perfectly manicured fingernails. "I figured when Oliver Queen wants to have an audience with me, I should go and meet up with him straight away to un-complicate things," she exhaled, looking determindly into his dark-brown eyes.

"And you came _all the way_ from Metropolis to tell me that personally?" Oliver asked bejond believe.

Tess glanced into his eyes. "Oliver I've got a private jet, too. Althought my pilot isn't even half as hot as yours...," she added with a smirk.

Sighing, Oliver turned around and grabbed a towel to dry his sweat-covered face. "Do you want to be my plus-one at the gala tomorrow?" he came straight to the point.

Looking at him with her eyes wide open, she snapped "Are you serious?"

He just nodded as she walked up to the cabinet, snatching a stick for herself, looking extremely angry. Walking back to face him again, she said, "You do realize that I am organizing the gala?" as she lifted the stick with one sharp move into a horizontal position, pushing Oliver against the wall.

He stared at her, caught completely off guard.

"And you realize that you need a man on your side?" he asked breathlessly, as he shifted them both away from the wall, grabbing his stick to defend himself.

After a couple of moves, he had to admit that she was quite an opponent who could hold up her own against him in every aspect of the fight. All of a sudden he felt the end of her stick boring into his jaw. Turning around, he stopped for a second as blood dropped out of his mouth. Tess just looked at him provocatively as he wiped away the blood with the back of his hand.

"Is this a revenge?" he yelled, being taken totally aback.

"You used to be better at this." she spat. "This is not revenge, Oliver. This is respect! Weak men like you just make me stronger," she cried out, continuing to fight until Oliver caught her hands, pushing her back to the wall and trying to keep her in place with his bodyweight. As she passionately tried to escape his grip, he lifted a hand and brushed a red strain of hair out of her face.

"You know how much you meant to me," he whispered softly.

A sarcastic laughter escaped her lips, "Yeah, that became very clear when I caught you with the waitress, or was she a hostess?"

"How many times do I have to apologize?" Oliver asked depressed.

Pushing him away in a harsh move, she lifted her stick again, pointing it at his chin. "I don't want an apology. I want an explanation! Why did you leave me? What were you so afraid of?"

Looking at her, Oliver exhaled deeply and released his stick from his hand. The plopping sound as it hit the floor let Tess startle for a second. Staring into her eyes, he walked up to her to cup her face. "_You_," he whispered as she looked at him, her eyes wide open.

"Tess, what happened to you?" he asked softly after a minute.

She turned her head. "I grew up when you left!" she said somberly and turned around, putting some distance between them. "I know my way out… Pick me up at seven tomorrow…," stopping mid-sentence, she realized Mathieu standing in the doorframe, gazing at them, dumbfounded.

Gathering together all her dignity, she lifted her chin and walked up to the Australian pilot, smiling sweetly. "Monsieur Perrontier. Comment ça va?" she asked in perfect French, as she brushed over his right cheek with her hand.

Mathieu could just stare at her as she vanished along the long corridor, leaving him and Oliver behind.

Walking up to his boss, he asked in disbelief, "Are you already on Tess' bad side?"

Oliver sat down and pressed the towel to his chin. "That's assuming that the Luthor wannabe has a good side. That punk made her to his acting CEO and we still don't know why, so being cautious with anything Tess related is the way to go."

Mathieu sat next to him and shook his head. "I don't know if she is a die hard Lex supportive. Up to this point, she has been civil."

The man next to him threw the towel into his direction and smiled. "Watch out Romeo!"

"I'm just saying," Mathieu tried to defend himself.

"Are you sure your judgement isn't clouded by her flowing red hair and piercing green eyes?" Oliver asked his friend in a more serious tone.

"Why haven't you told me about your connection to Tess Mercer before?" Mathieu tried to dig deeper into the topic.

Oliver got up to pick up the sticks from the floor. "It was in the past and I'm not exactly proud how things turned out… Let's just say that Mercy is one of the reasons Green Arrow exists. By the way, what are you doing here? Isn't today your day off?" he deliberately put an end to the Tess discussion.

Mathieu straightened. "Celeste called me this morning. Lex Luthor tried to kidnap Jason White a few days ago. He used one of his criminals to ambush her and Lois' kids at a supermarket and apparently the henchman did use Kryptonite to make his point."

* * *

><p>Celeste had a very bad feeling. Nervously, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Clark had been assigned to report about Lex Luthor's newest project 'Prometheus'. The billionaire was about to launch the most advanced space project in the world. After the couple had had lunch in downtown Metropolis an hour after their encounter at their apartment, she had escorted her husband to the city hall, where Lex Luthor was expected to conduct a press conference about the details of 'Prometheus'.<p>

Placing a kiss on Clark's cheek, Celeste realized that she was too late to slip away, when the black limousine stopped in front of the journalists, waiting for the ambitious businessman. Her breath faltered when she saw Lex Luthor smoothly getting out of the car and walking up the stairs where he was instantly surrounded by dozens of journalist, wanting to get at least a short statement before the press conference.

Trying to get around the reporters as unnoticed as possible and _most of all_ Lex Luthor, Celeste ran down the stairs.

Struggling to escape, she was held back by the crowd of journalists trying to grab a statement from the businessman.

Displaying his immaculate white teeth and focusing his smile just in time into the cameras, the bald billionaire answered patiently the endless questions about 'Prometheus' as the sound of zooming cameras and flash lights filled the air. All of the sudden, he noticed his most favorite ballet dancer stumbling hastily down the stairs just next to him, from the corner of his eyes. Excusing himself to the journalists, while giving his bodyguards a sign to hold the reporters as far away from him as possible, he turned around and snatched Celeste's left wrist in a vice verse grip, just before she could slip away. Smiling obnoxiously at her, his eyes pierced into hers.

_Shit_, _shit, shit,_ Celeste thought as she bit her bottom lip, starting to tremble as she felt his fingers burying even deeper into her wrist.

"Miss McPherson," he whispered after pulling her close enough, so nobody could hear what he had to say to the young woman. "My precious ballet angel, what a nice surprise to meet you here, although, I have to admit, I'm still upset about you having the nerve to save Superman's life," he whispered.

Celeste looked at the bald man with eyes wide open as Luthor continued to speak, "By the way, I was also quite stunned to hear that _you_ are the babysitter of my best _friend's_ son…What a small world we are living in, don't you think?"

The young woman swallowed hard, lifted her chin and glared at him. "That's really odd. Richard White has never mentioned you as one of his closest friends," she exclaimed as the corner of her mouth twitched for a split-second. Lex looked at her, his eyes twinkling as guffaws of laugher escaped his throat.

When his publicist grabbed him at the other arm to indicate that they had to go, he nodded, bent his head, and whispered in a higher voice. "You have no idea precious ballet angel! Seriously, and this is a free advice for somebody I really like… If I were you, I wouldn't sign up to babysit Jason White at any circumstance anymore," he recommended as he turned around and walked into the town hall, a diabolic grin plastered all over his face.

Fighting back the tears welling up in her eyes, Celeste bit her lower lip and looked around. Her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She needed her husband. _Now_. But unfortunately, he was somehow caught between all the reporters who were about to get a short statement from Lex Luthor. Noticing Clark's concerned expression, she tried to press out a smile as their glances met.

Trying to somehow get to her, Clark smiled reassuringly while giving her a sign to meet up with him on the bottom of the stairs. He had eavesdropped the whole conversation between the two of them and was now more than concerned. Lex Luthor displayed a fondness for Celeste, that made the hair on his skin shoot upright.

Kitty Kowalski who had just jumped out of the limousine spotted Celeste straight away. She couldn't believe that the Australian ballet dancer was at this place at this time. What did she want there? Following Celeste's glance, she noticed the man who was looking with a very concerned expression at the Australian woman. Frowning, Kitty tried to piece together where she had seen this before. Somehow she felt like having a déjà vu as she racked her brain to find out why this scene seemed so familiar.

Meanwhile, Celeste stormed down the remaining stairs and collapsed on one of them, sobbing. She inhaled deeply as tears ran uncontrollable down her cheeks. This man gave her the creeps. As she tried to find a tissue in one of her coat pockets, Clark sat down next to her and hugged her tightly.

"I am so sorry," he said softly, quietly cursing himself for having suggested to have lunch with her before the press conference. The last thing he needed at the moment was his wife caught in the middle of this mess.

She lifted her hand and brushed over his cheek. "It's okay. I was just too late to back away before he showed up," she said, resting her head on his chest.

Clark just nodded and kissed the top of her head, while trying to soothe her. Feeling her calming down and relaxing more and more in his arms, he brushed another kiss into her locks and got up again.

"Sorry, I have to go back," he apologized.

Wiping the remaining tears out of her eyes, Celeste nodded. "I'm okay. I'm a big girl," she tried to assure him.

Walking up the stairs, he turned his head and smiled once more to reassure her before he followed all the other reporters to the press conference.

Celeste indulged in the silence for a moment, now hanging in the air after all the reporters and news teams had followed the billionaire into the town hall. As she blew her nose, a woman approached her. "I didn't know my husband has such a deep impact on you," she exclaimed in a calm voice just next to the ballet dancer.

Celeste looked up and was stunned that it had been Kitty, now standing in front of her. "You seem to be very happy about that," she answered annoyed.

Kitty let out a loud sigh. "I am happy! You know, I'm happily married to Lex," she stated with a low voice looking dreamingly in the direction where Luthor had just vanished.

"Well. Congratulations! I really hope he loves you," Celeste said sarcastically as she knew that Lex Luthor couldn't love anybody else than himself.

"Listen," the dark haired woman replied outraged. "Not everybody in this world is lucky to find true love. Some of us have to settle with what they are given. Not like you."

"What do you mean?" Celeste asked puzzled.

"I mean that you are very lucky to have a man who truly loves…," suddenly, the brunette stopped mid-sentence and looked absolutely perplexed into Celeste's eyes. With an obnoxious smile on her face, she continued in a high pitched voice a couple of seconds later. "Seriously Celeste? I can't believe it! The little ballet dancer and the hero - _disguised as a reporter_? Wow, I am stunned… This is sooooooo sweet, my teeth start to rot away just by thinking of it," Kitty shouted out, taunting, as Celeste eyes widened in shock.

Kitty was so distracted to humiliate the woman in front of her, that she didn't notice Celeste jumping up from the stairs almost in lightening speed and grabbing her, pushing her to the floor, and squeezing her throat, while sitting on top of her.

"If you tell anybody in this world, I swear I will find you and kill you with my bare hands," she yelled.

Kitty was in total agony as she tried to get some air into her lungs. She had never thought that the sweet little fragile ballet dancer could be so furious. The next thing she felt was somebody trying to get Celeste off her. Choking, she opened her eyes and was stunned that it had been Superman disguised in his alter ego who had come to her rescue, by grabbing Celeste, and pulling her off from Kitty. Lex' wife looked fierecly into direction of the young woman who had choked her, as she tried to get up.

"Let me go! I will kill her," Celeste shouted out as Clark held her safely in his grip, trying to calm her down.

When Kitty was able to speak again, she walked up to Clark, tipptoeing, to whisper into his ear. "We are even now _Superman_. You saved my live and I saved yours. Don't expect any more from me," she stated in a hoarse voice, walking slowly up the stairs to meet up with her husband who had come back outside the town hall in order to pose for some press pictures.

Clark's eyes widened. How in the world did Kitty know his secret?

"Are you okay?" he asked Celeste, who had finally calmed down, brushing with both of his hands some of her messy locks behind her ears.

"I will be when I get the chance to kill her," she answered nodding into Kitty's direction, all the rage against Luthor's wife surfacing again.

"What just happened?" he asked, still absolutely stunned about Kitty's statement.

Celeste blew another lock of hair out of her face. "What did she say to you?" she counter questioned.

Clark run a hand through his hair and asked her to sit down on the stairs. Looking up at Kitty, who had taken her spot next to her husband, he sat down next to Celeste, grabbed her hand and started to play with one of her fingers. "She said that we are even now and that I can't expect any more from her. And she called me _Superman_," he turned his head, whispering into Celeste's ear.

His wife just nodded. "Yep, that's the reason why I was so furious."

"How does she know?" Clark asked puzzled and very concerned about the fact that if she would break this news to Lex, his life and the lives of all the people he cared for would be in more danger than they already were.

"I think she's smarter than we think she is. Kitty saved our lives when the New Krypton incident happened. That is a plain fact. But I've never told you the real reason why she saved us. She saved us because she noticed how you looked into my eyes when you realized that I was captured by Lex. Clark, she knew that Superman loves me and she only let me go because I told her I love him too. I mean, one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to count one and one together don't you think?"

Clark just nodded. He would had never thought that Kitty was a sucker for romantic situations… Maybe she had noticed the concern in his eyes about Celeste earlier. Lowering his head and tucking his chin in, he tried to think of something comforting to say to his wife. But he couldn't. Deep in his thoughts he felt suddenly Celeste's hand on his cheek.

"I'm sorry," she said desperately.

Clark kissed her softly on her lips and pulled her into a firm hug. "It's okay Celeste. We will cross that bridge when we have to. Okay?"

She just nodded and continued to sob in his arms as she knew that from now on their lives would never been the same.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: My dear readers, the new chapter...**

**A huge thanks goes to my betas Dragon166 and Astha22!**

**6.**

Celeste walked slowly through the wide corridors of the dancing studio where she was invited to dance for the audition of the Hollywood movie. On that day, the producers wanted to find the male lead. To get a better idea of who to offer the job, they wanted Celeste to dance with every potential candidate to gauge their chemistry not only on the dance floor, but in front of the cameras as well.

Everywhere in the old Victorian building young men were gathered. Some of them sat on the floor, while others practiced some dancing steps in quiet corners. A group of young male dancers noticed the young woman trying to find her way to the main stage and whistled out in delight at her gracious prettiness. All the others also shifted their attention to the young ballet dancer. A blond man suddenly grabbed her arm and swirled her around so he could face her. As Celeste still hadn't fully recovered from her encounter with Lex Luthor a couple of days before, she snapped at him. "Keep your hands off me if you want to live to see tomorrow!"

He smiled and bent down to whisper in her ear. "I just wanted to make sure you will chose me as your dancing partner."

Celeste couldn't believe the nerve of the man. "And you seriously think that gesture will help you to get the part?" she asked, annoyed.

He just shrugged, and released her arm. Celeste walked at the side of the huge stage, shaking her head.

Gulping, she sat down on the floor and fished her pointe shoes out of her backpack, together with a water bottle. She was extremely nervous and on the edge of despair. Not only because of the audition, but also because she hadn't heard anything from Clark for more than twelve hours. He had been assigned to report about _Prometheus_ at the gala the night before. Chewing her bottom lip, she smiled as she blushed a bit. He had looked extremely yummy in his tuxedo and she had shamelessly seduced him on the spot, resulting in him getting much too late to the gala. He usually contacted her somehow to let her know that he was all right when he was on his saves around the world. This time it was different and very concerning for her that she hadn't heared from him for that long. With the fact that Lex Luthor was out there in the possession of very dangerous Kryptonite, and on top of that, the delightful new Mrs Luthor knowing Superman's alter ego, Celeste felt her heartbeat accelerate dangerously out of fear for the well-being of her husband.

Sighing, she slipped into her favorite ballet shoes and took in the dancers around her to distract herself from the worry about her better half. She estimated most of them between twenty and thirty years old. Some of them were very skilled from what she could notice in the short amount of time she had watched them practicing dancing or just warming up.

After she had tied up the ribbons of her pointe shoes, she went up from the floor and stepped with her right foot on pointe. Stretching it outwards, she tested if the shoe was sitting comfortable. She repeated the same gesture with her left foot and started to do some warming-up exercises after she had adjusted the ribbons.

The burning glances of the men around her made her feel very uncomfortable. She was well aware that this was their stepping stone into a very promising career not only in dancing, but acting as well and there was much at stake for the men waiting to audition to land the lead role.

She had had a meeting a day before with Chung Hung and her lawyer to discuss about the contract and her involvement in the movie. Chung Hung had explained that his choreographer, who she would meet before the audition, and she would be the two main persons responsible to decide who would get cast.

When she was really honest with herself, she had to admit that she felt very uneasy to decide who would get the chance. _She_ even didn't feel comfortable playing the female lead as she wasn't very convinced about her acting skills at all. It was a well known fact that a dancer also had to show acting skills during a performance, but this,_ this _was beyond anything she had ever done before. And she wasn't really sure if Mr Hung's decision to hire her as the female lead was a good decision after all.

"Hey Phersy!" A voice ripped her out of her worries.

Looking up, she couldn't believe that it was Thomas, her dancing partner in the scandalous Australian _Romeo and Juliet _production from more than two years ago.

Running into his arms, she almost swept him from his feet.

"Thomas! What are you doing here?" she asked after she had covered him with million of kisses on his right cheek. The last time they both had seen each other had been at her and Clark's wedding day.

"I see you already know my choreographer," Chung Hung said, standing behind them, with a big smirk on his face.

Celeste turned around, still in Thomas' embrace, and looked disbelievingly at the Chinese movie producer.

"Thomas is our choreographer?" she asked just to make sure she could follow them both.

"Yes Phersy," Thomas confirmed as he automatically swept a blonde corkscrew curl out of her face like he had done a million times before when they had danced together. "He hired me and asked me if I knew who would be the best female dancer for the movie and I had to tell him that there is only one person in this world who would be able to dance the part," he continued.

Stemming her hands into her sides, she looked up at her friend and punched his left arm. "Why didn't you call me and tell me that you are also a part of the movie?" she asked accusingly.

He kissed her on her brow and smiled, "Then I would have missed your absolutely crazy reaction just now!"

* * *

><p>They sat down in the auditorium a few rows away from the stage and chatted about what had happened during the last time they had seen each other. Thomas told Celeste that he had started to work as a choreographer almost a year ago. She put a hand on his cheek and looked at him. The main reason he hadn't been able to come with her to Metropolis to dance his part as Romeo had been an accident that had damaged his left knee to such an extent that he would never be able to work as a professional dancer. He had never been angry with her decision to go to the States without him, he had even encouraged her to meet up with Alexander Nilson. And he had often told her that she would had never met the love of her life if she had stayed in Australia just to be loyal towards him and their friendship. Celeste was extremely relieved that Thomas had found a way to work in a profession which was related to his biggest passion in life. She knew how he felt as dancing was also more than a passion for her. Working as a choreographer in a movie was Thomas' fist big job and he felt as nervous as his former dancing partner. They both smiled and promised each other to give their best.<p>

When the first man finally stepped on the dance floor to demonstrate his dancing skills, they watched him intently. The plan was to let all the applicants dance solo and then to narrow them down to the candidates who would dance with Celeste in front of running cameras to test their on-screen chemistry.

The process was very lengthy and Thomas caught Celeste more than once looking at her cell phone instead watching the men dancing in front of her.

"You should really put that thing away," he recommended her determinedly.

She blew the lock of hair out of her face that had escaped her ponytail and looked sweetly at him. She knew him well enough to know that he would melt away by that look. "I haven't heard from Clark in more than sixteen hours, I'm just a bit concerned."

He glanced at her and nodded. "Fine, but try to concentrate please, I don't want to still sit there tomorrow morning only because you were more busy with your mobile phone, okay?"

She nodded. "Promise."

Two hours later, they had narrowed down from one hundred potentional lead men to ten. Now it was Celeste's turn to dance with them to Thomas' first choreography for the movie.

Standing on the stage, she and the young man named Bob listened to the instructions of Thomas and the director of the film, who got the cameras into the right position.

Everywhere people were busy to get the lighting right. When the music started to play, Celeste and Bob started to dance. Chung Hung watched them and stopped them even before Thomas could say a word.

"Okay, Bob. Thank you, but I have to tell you that we have to go with another applicant," he explained to the man sternly, bending over to Thomas he whispered. "Wow they didn't have any chemistry at all!"

The young choreographer just shrugged. "Don't worry, we still have nine to go."

While Celeste was waiting for the next man to come up the stage, she walked to her mobile phone which she had placed on the front of the stage, to check her messages.

"Phersy, could you please put that phone away? _Now!_" Thomas ordered, this time very annoyed.

Pushing the button to read the incoming messages, she said. "Just a minute," without even looking up at him.

- _Sorry I was very busy… Good luck for your audition, I hope you will find your perfect dancing match :)_ - she finally read the long awaited message from her husband.

Inhaling deeply, she looked up and put the phone away. "I'm ready now," she let her friend know, as all the tension washed away from her.

"Well thats good to know Phersy! Meet the next candidate, Sam."

Unfortunately, Sam wasn't as good as Bob before him. He even managed to drop Celeste during one of the lifts. Standing up and rubbing her butt, she was more than annoyed and shooed him from the stage with the comment that he should better never ever come in her sight again.

But even after three more hours and the remaining candidates having finished their dance, they still hadn't found their perfect lead dancer. The candidates either were very skilled but had no chemistry with Celeste, or they had some kind of chemistry, but couldn't meet the high standards of performance, the movie producer and his choreographer had.

Sitting there and burying her head in her knees, Celeste just wanted to go home to Clark. She wanted to cuddle up in his arms until the end of time, and she was _very_ tired as it was already ten in the evening and her woking day now exceeded the fourteen hours mark.

"What do we do now?" she asked the group of people staring at her.

"Well we have two options. Firstly, we put out another casting call, or we try out some of the better dancers out of the ten, early tomorrow," Thomas suggested after he had re-watched the recordings from the performances.

Blowing the lock of hair out of her face which had been annoying her for the whole day, Celeste just shook her head. "What's with Peter," she turned around and looked on a sheet of paper on the floor, "Candidate number five?"

"He is an excellent dancer, he really is, but he is at least half an inch shorter than you, and that looks really strange in a film, especially if you both have to dance to a piece where you my little princess are on pointe most of the time," Thomas explained.

Celeste couldn't contradict him in that case. He was right. They needed a dancer who was approximately her hight when she was on pointe.

Standing up, she sagged her spine and smiled. "Lets call it a day and come back tomorrow with fresh ideas, shall we?" she suggested.

Just when she wanted to free her aching feet from the ballet shoes, a young man walked on the stage. He had a very extravagant looking girl hanging at his right arm.

"Excuse me?" he asked, chewing nervously on his chewing gum. "Is this the location the audition for the movie _Lovedance _takes place?"

"Yes," Celeste confirmed, already opening the ribbons of her shoes. "But you are too late buddy. You can come back tomorrow."

The man looked at her. "Wow, bitchy, are you? Huh?"

Absolutely furious, she rose up and glared at him. If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead on the spot. "Who are you to come to an audition ten hours too late and call me bitchy on top of that?" she snapped.

The man just shrugged and his female companion began to speak.

"Oh sorry Miss…?" she asked sweetly.

"McPherson," Celeste let her know. During the meeting about the details of her contract, Celeste had made the decision to use her maiden name in the movie as pure protection of her private life. She knew that if somebody was nosy enough, they would find out, she was married to a reporter of the Daily Planet with the name Clark Kent, but that would cause them to put some effort in finding that out and give her at least some piece.

"Miss McPerson," the girl repeated. "We just saw the casting call on the internet and I said to Jules that he should go and audition. He is such a great dancer," she added and looked enamoured in the man's eyes.

"Can I have a second?" Thomas asked Celeste eyeing curiously the strange couple on the stage.

She nodded annoyed as they walked to the side of the stage.

"What do you think?" he asked her.

"I want to go home, have a looooong shower and something to eat," she told him bluntly.

He nodded. "I know, I feel the same. But if we don't let him dance and he is the one…," he thought out loud.

Sighing, Celeste turned around and took in the man. He actually had the right height and build. He was also very handsome in his white muscle shirt, the black loose trousers, his white runners, and his baseball cap with the shield on the back on his head. Gosh, he was even the best looking man they had seen for the whole day, which would be a big advantage with the female viewers.

"Okay, one more dance, but that's it, I'm not joking!" she agreed pointing with her index finger on Thomas' nose.

He just kissed her on the brow and walked up to the man. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Julian Tanaka," he replied, as his girlfriend let out a huge shriek out of excitement that her boyfriend would get a chance to dance.

"How old are you and what is your dancing experience?" Thomas continued to ask Julian.

As he shooed the girl from the stage, he stood up more straight and answered, "I'm twenty-six and my main area of dance is Hip-Hop."

Celeste rolled her eyes, "Great!" she exhaled. The last thing they needed for the movie was a hobby Hip-Hop dude. "What do we do now?" she asked, glancing at Thomas, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and tapping with her right foot on the floor.

"Gee, lady, can you actually be nice? You haven't seen me dance, so keep your judgmental attitude by yourself, will you?" Julian asked her directly.

The young woman jumped up on the stage. Walking up very close to him, she stemmed her arms on her sides.

"Do you have any idea what this audition is about?" she began to ask, looking very angrily into his big dark-brown eyes. "This is not some kind of a joke, nor is it a walk in a park. We are here to find a male dancer for the lead role in a_ H.O.L.L.Y.W.O.O.D_ blockbuster and not some kind of crappy street performance," she spat at him.

He lifted his hands to stop her for a minute. "I'm not a street dancer," he corrected her angryly and on the edge to lose his good manners.

"That we will see in a minute," turning around to face Thomas she asked. "Can we start now? I want to go home."

He turned around to face Chang Hung, who just sighed.

"Okay. Julian do you know your steps?"

The young man just shrugged. "No, I didn't even know there were some steps I had to practice,"

Lifting her hands up in the air and rolling her eyes, Celeste said, "Great. It's getting even better. If we don't start in five minutes, I'm out here."

Chung Hung and Thomas exchanged glimpses for the second time. Something was off with their female ballet dancer and they didn't know what it was. They had never seen her that bitchy before.

In order to not waste any more time, one of Thomas' assistants walked up to Julian to show and explain him the steps as Thomas had a conversation with the director of the movie.

"What do you think, should we try the original song for the movie?" he asked cheekily. He knew that Celeste would be very surprised, but he also knew her well enough that she would try to give her best, and that was, what he desperately needed at the moment.

When Julian confirmed that he had understood what they wanted from him, Celeste was asked to go to her position as the music started.

The enormous sound system spilled the first beats of David Guerta's song 'Little Bad Girl' on a earsplitting level. Both dancers were just standing on their starting spot, looking confused. Celeste looked at Thomas who gave her a sign to finally start to dance. At the same time Julian made the decision definately not to go with the choreographed steps. In his point of view, they didn't match the song at all.

Circling his hips, he hopped to Celeste, who looked at him with her eyes wide open. "You must be kidding!" she shouted against the tune. He shook his head vehemently and tried to get her to dance, but she just held her hands up in capitulation and tried to flee from the stage. Julian, who was not in the mood to lose the opportunity to show his dancing skills because of the bitch who was annoying the crap out of him, extended his hand and swirled her around. "We will dance together. Do you understand me?" he whispered sternly into her ear as he fixated her green eyes with a withering glance. Celeste wanted to tell him to get lost, but she finally understood that she had to work with him in order to eventually having the chance to get home before the new day began. Blowing a corkscrew curl out of her face, she nodded mutely and did what he wanted her to do.

Thomas and the crew watched them, astonished. They could not believe how easily they improvised and put together their own choreography in no more than a few seconds just by nodding at each other. Sighing, the choreographer turned around and winked smiling at his boss. Maybe there was some hope after all!

After the first chorus, Julian did a solo where Celeste just watched him. Then she joined him by getting closer and touching his chest and bending her body backwards with the beat. Shaking her butt from left to the right, she matched the lyrics of the song. They continued dancing as if there had never been any other dancing partners before them, they shocked the complete crew. Julian, put his hands up in the air and circled his hips again, at the same time jumping where he was standing. Celeste joined him in his Hip Hop moves and Julian was astonished how easy that seemed for her.

Starting to dance solo to show her and the crew his skills, he followed the tune. When the tune got slower, Celeste went on pointe and swirled around for more than thirty seconds. When the tune got faster again, Julian caught her and danced together with her as if they were one person until the music relapsed into silence and both looked, astonished, at each other while they tried to get some air into their lungs.

Thomas and all the others were still about to recover from what they had just witnessed when Julian gave Celeste a slap on her butt.

"Wow," he said. "I would have never thought that you have it in you, Dolly!"

Her eyes went even bigger as they had been before. Lifting her hand and slapping him in his face so it could possibly be heard at the other end of the town, she spat at him, "If you ever do that again, you won't survive it, idiot!"

He knew exactly how she meant it and let her go immediately. But not without grinning widely at her. He was fairly sure that they both would have a lot of fun with each other. Putting up his hand to shield his eyes from the bright stage light he asked the people responsible for the movie "How was that?"

"Mind blowing," Clark said keenly and stepped in front of the stage in the spotlight, looking up at the two dancers. "But if I was you, I wouldn't piss off my dancing partner before I even got the job!" he added, laughing guttural and absolutely adorable, while extending his hand to help his wife off the stage. His laughter melt away all her tension and worries that had build up during her very exhausting working day. She was even fascinated as she hadn't seen him laughing that playfully in weeks besides her surprise that he had watched the performance.

Sitting on the edge of the stage, she waited until he had lifted her down to the floor. Getting up on pointe, she kissed him passionately, totally relieved that he was back from where ever he had been. "Thanks for coming," she whispered.

"Do I have the job now or not?" Julian asked as he pushed a kiss on his girlfriend's lips who had come to hug him excitingly.

"No way!" Celeste shouted out stubbornly after she had released Clark's lips.

Thomas, who had been absolutely stunned for the whole time, finally snapped out of it and walked up to the two dancers and their partners. Extending his right hand, he greeted Clark and shifted his attention to his two dancers.

"Honestly, I don't care if you eat each other alive or not, but that was absolutely world class. There are still some things we need to change Julian to make you a even better dancer, but as far as I'm concerned, you've got the job!" he smiled and extended his hand to help his new lead dancer from the stage.

Julian's girlfriend hopped straight into his lap, screaming as he swiveled her around out of excitement.

"I want to see you back bright and early tomorrow at eight so we can get the contract done." Shifting to Celeste, Thomas continued. "That goes for you, too, princess! And now go home and have some rest we have a lot of work to be done," he announced as he walked out of the theatre. He was done for the day.

Celeste couldn't believe it, Thomas had made the decision to hire that scumbag without even asking her about her opinion. But she was just too exhausted to contradict her choreographer's decision right now. But she would certainly let him know the next day that he could sent that idiot to wherever he came from. She would so not dance with him in that movie.

Facing her husband, she rested her head on his chest and exhaled deeply. "Can we please go home?" she asked, already half asleep.

He kissed the top of her head and smiled cheekily. "Your wish is my command!" he said and walked with her in his arms out of the room. When he was sure that nobody could see them anymore, he picked her up in his arms, smiled and supersped back to their apartment.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: My dear readers, finally the new chapter... Sorry it took me sooooo long, but my betas are very busy at the moment :)**

**Busard: **Thank you very much for being one of my biggest fans!

**Supesfan18: **I know you will like this chapter...

**Theroyalhighness supergirl: **You absolutely blew me away with your reviews. I'm really happy that you like this AU story! Guess what? My betas always try to get an update by offering me cookies and gummy bears, too... :)

**Dragon166: **Honey, I saw your extra little gummy bear :o) Without your encouragement, constructive criticism, and huge heart, I wouldn't be able to write. Thank you sooo much for taking this journey with me my Mausi *big hugs*

**A huge thanks goes to my betas Dragon166 and Astha22, and brand new in the mix to support them due to their busy schedule, imnotjkr and annabelsmith, thanks for putting my writing attempts in proper English! A special thanks goes to Supesfan18 for the creative input :)**

**7.**

Clark put Celeste gently on their bed. She was already deep asleep. Slowly, he removed her pointe-shoes and put the covers over her. Slipping out of his shirt and trousers, he cuddled up next to her and swept her into his arms to gently kiss her brow.

Deep in thought, he tried to plan a way to tell her about what had happened in the past twenty-four hours. Of course, he had been much too late to the _Prometheus_ gala after Celeste had seduced him, he thought with a smile on his face. He had arrived just in time for Lex Luthor and Tess Mercer's announcement: that _Prometheus _would be up and running in less than a couple of weeks. The space project was going to research serious illnesses in outer space in order to find a cure for them.

All the well known scientists in the world had been there and talked about their plans for their research projects. Lex Luthor had been the hero of the day, Clark remembered as he shook mutely his head.

However, what he had found out after the official press conference, still gave him chills all over. Turning his head and brushing a gentle kiss to Celeste's golden locks, he still couldn't believe the magnitude of Lex Luthor's evil plan.

During the official reception, Clark had been able to sneak into Lex's office. After he had disabled all the security measurements the bald billionaire had in place for uninvited intruders, he had snooped around to find out more about _Prometheus_ and, most of all, the excavations in the Cambodian jungle. Instinct told him that the two projects somehow had a connection.

It had taken him a while to find what he had been looking for, but when he had finally found the secret room behind the bookshelf, Clark almost wished he had never been able to find out what Lex had planned.

After he had gotten access to the secret room, he had found the blueprints of_ Prometheus_. The space project was anything but what Lex Luthor had presented at the gala just minutes before.

With his eyes wide open, Clark had made the discovery that _Prometheus_ had only one purpose:

To kill Superman!

The space station had been built purely for the purpose of getting a huge amount of Kryptonite dust into the Earth's atmosphere during its launch into space.

Turing his head to look out of the window, he remembered that that discovery had made him feel ill as he was well aware that not only his life was at stake but his son's life as well. Considering that the project was about to launch in just a couple of weeks, he had almost lost it.

After a couple of minutes, when he had been able to think straight again, his hate for Lex Luthor had hightened even further than before. He had needed all his willpower to not burn Lex Luthor into dust with his heatvision on the spot. Instead he had sat on the floor with the blueprints in his lap, and had tried to find a solution for the incredibly threatening problem.

He knew that he had to make sure that Jason was safe, but in all that mess, he also had to make sure that his life wasn't in danger and most of all, the lives of the people he loved, especially Celeste's.

After he had made the discovery about the _real_ purpose of _Prometheus_, he had needed some time to recover from the shock. He had made the decision to finally find out what was going on with Lex Luthor's secret excavations in the Cambodian jungle and why the criminal mastermind needed to dig in the jungle at all. He knew that the project was somehow related to _Prometheus_, but there were still some pieces missing from the gigantic Luthor puzzle. But as he had been on his way to the excavation site, a big cyclone over Australia had caught his attention and hadn't left him with the opportunity to check out Cambodia as making sure the people in the storm affected area were safe had been more important and had taken up most of the day.

Now pondering about if he should just tell Celeste everything he had found out, he suddenly heard his cell phone vibrating.

Cautiously slipping out of the bed to not wake up his wife, he picked up the phone. "Yes?" he asked quietly.

"Clark!" The person on the other end of the line exhaled deeply. "Could you please come to the Planet. We have important new information we have to share with you," Lois informed her friend.

Turning around and looking at his sleeping wife, he sighed. He didn't want to leave her alone again.

"I'm on my way," he said, nevertheless, and pushed the red button to hang up.

Still looking at Celeste, he was deep in thought. The sooner they could take care of the problem, the sooner his wife and son would be out of harm's way.

Bending down, he kissed her cheek gently. "Celeste," he whispered, waiting until she started to stir a bit. It really bothered him that he had to wake her up after her very exhausting day, but he didn't want to go without telling her either. "I have to go."

Still half asleep, she opened her eyes. "What?" she asked, blinking up at him.

"There is an emergency. Lois called. They need me at the Planet," he explained and added, "Sorry."

Celeste just caught his chin and kissed his lips. "I love you," she breathed, smiling.

He kissed her back. "I love you, too," he said and buried his head in her shoulder. He really didn't want to leave her right now, but he also knew that he had to make sure the world was safer for her and Jason.

Kissing her one last time, he got upright and turned around to go, but something held him back and he stopped in the doorframe.

Celeste was already asleep again. She looked absolutely beautiful with her golden locks spread over the pillow and cuddled up with the blanket, one of her extremely sexy legs on top of it. She had a glow, he had never noticed before.

Smiling, he walked out of the door, wondering if it was even possible to fall in love with her all over again.

* * *

><p>Lex was on the top of the world. Standing in his huge beach house and taking a sip of the best single malt he had ever owned, he smiled broadly as he watched the waves brushing on the shore. His plan to rule the world was almost complete.<p>

Picking up a piece of paper next to him, he got a lighter and held the flame at the lower corner of the only existing birth certificate of Lutessa Lena Luthor. This time nothing would get in the way of him killing the world's biggest hero.

Unfortunately, he had to admit that Tess Mercer did her job as acting CEO of Luthorcorp extraordinarily well. She was a Luthor after all. It was almost a shame that she had to die, but in his plan there was certainly no place for another member of the Luthor family.

After the birth certificate had caught fire, he put it into the ashtray next to him and watched it burn until there was only black ash left. To complete his evil designs there was only one more thing he had to do.

* * *

><p>Clark arrived at the Daily Planet ten minutes after Lois had called him. Sitting down on his desk, he turned around. He was alone in the bullpen, but he could hear Richard and Lois talking in Richard's office.<p>

Waking his computer by moving the mouse, he made the decision to check his work emails and to type up the story about Lex Luthor's space project. As he clenched his teeth at the thought of the most evil plan the maniac had ever had, he rubbed his wary eyes. Shifting his attention back to his computer screen, he didn't notice Lois walking up to him and placing a coffee mug on his desk.

"That was fast," she noted.

Smiling, he just shrugged and picked up the mug to take a sip. He had gotten used to their little ritual.

"Thank you," he said sincerely after he had put the cup back in its place.

She smiled as Richard walked up to them.

"Hey Clark," he greeted his friend. "Thanks for coming at this time of the day, but unfortunately this situation couldn't wait any longer," he said, apologizing for waking Clark at such an early hour.

"That's okay," Clark reassured Richard. "What happened?"

Richard got two chairs and he and Lois sat down just next to Clark. Both of their expressions concerned Clark as Richard started to explain. "I just got this very alarming email from one of my informants." He shifted a bit to give Clark and Lois a hardcopy of the email. "My source claims that there was a major incident in the Cambodian rainforest."

Clark blew a strand of jet-black hair out of his face, a gesture that got Lois' attention. Smiling, she looked at him. "What?" he asked, shrugging.

"Your wife is really rubbing off on you," she realized out loud.

"Is that a bad thing?" he asked, smirking.

"No not at all," she reassured him, still smiling.

Richard looked at them, stunned. It was really spooky how well they both got along. There was a bond between them that he wasn't able to define. He just didn't know if he should be happy or jealous. "Kids, are you ready to carry on?" he asked, very annoyed.

"Yes," Lois confirmed and kissed her husband gently on his lips.

"Great. My source said that there was a major earthquake at an excavation site of _Rothul _Industries."

Clark exhaled slowly, which alarmed Lois even more.

"And what's the problem?" she asked a bit puzzled. Earthquakes weren't exactly uncommon in that part of the world.

Richard ran a hand through his hair, stood and walked up to one of the plasma screens. Picking up a remote control, he pushed the buttons.

"The quake wasn't the problem, more what caused it," he explained.

They watched the video that had been sent from Richard's source to confirm the story. One of the workers on the excavation site had filmed the whole disaster with his smartphone camera.

People were running around, panicking. A loud growl rocked through the video and the man holding the phone was shaking uncontrollably. It was very hard to recognize anything. As he was screaming in agony, a very nasty looking monster appeared in front of two workers. The monster grabbed them and squeezed one in its right hand until his guts literally came out of his mouth. When the monster was sure the worker was dead, it dumped his body on the floor and grabbed the other one in both of its hands. Pulling on his neck and feet, it ripped the body of the second man in two.

Lois let out a loud scream, while watching the disturbing recording. Turning around to face Clark, she wanted to tell him to do something when she noticed him getting very tense. He had shifted his attention from the screen and was now looking into direction of the elevators.

"Clark?" she asked, concerned.

He turned back to face her, his baby-blue eyes wide open. "Go back to your house. NOW!" he ordered and was gone within a split second.

Richard, who had watched the whole scene and who was slowly about to recover, looked, stunned, into Lois' eyes. "What was that?" he asked, still gaping beyond belief.

* * *

><p>Celeste opened her eyes and turned around. Her head hurt terribly. As she tried to open her eyes, her ears caught the sound of a very young voice from far away. <em>Jason? <em>

"Jason!" she cried out when she finally realized that he was with her.

Jumping straight into her arms, the boy hugged her as if there was no tomorrow.

"What happened?" she asked him, trying to get up and looking around to take in her surroundings. The last thing she could remember was that Clark had shown up during the audition for the movie. Everything else was blank. Realizing now that she and Jason were locked in some sort of a cage she started to panic.

"I don't know," he told to her. "I was in my bed and now I'm here."

Celeste held him even tighter as he started to cry, totally frightened. "It's okay Jason, I'm here." she tried to reassure him as she brushed her hand through his wavy hair.

Looking around, she noticed a person approaching them. "Lex!" she exhaled, somehow not surprised at all.

"Precious ballet angel," he shouted delighted. "I just can't believe it. It feels like a deja vu. You unconscious on the floor and I'm the one in charge." A loud laugh escaped his throat. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but my wife practically begged me on her knees to not only kidnap this little bastard, but you as well. I don't really know why, but I can understand that she wants to have some fun, too. After all she deserves some revenge after you escaped from her on New Krypton."

Blowing a lock of blonde hair out of her face, the young ballet dancer just stared at the maniac as a cold shiver ran over her spine just by thinking about what his evil mind had planned for her and Jason this time.

* * *

><p>Clark walked into Lois' and Richard's house, totally devastated. The house was a mess. The CSI unit and the police were still there, investigating Jason's disappearance.<p>

Slowly, he walked up to Lois who was sitting on the couch, hugging Jasmine tightly. The little girl seemed to be okay, which relieved Clark. Looking around, he saw Richard standing in the doorway. Lois' husband had tears in his eyes.

Sitting next to Lois, Clark just looked at her.

"They came through the backdoor, Clark. The babysitter is in the hospital with very serious injuries," she explained as tears were rolling uncontrollably down over her cheeks. She hated herself for leaving Jason alone that night. "Sorry Clark, I know we had an agreement not to leave Jason alone without one of us," she apologized.

Clark just nodded and tucked his chin in. "Is Jasmine okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes. They were after Jason." Looking up at him she asked, "Could you find him?"

He shook his head. No he hadn't been able to find his son, even though he had searched everywhere for him. Standing up to look out of the window, he knew that he had to tell her everything. Turning back to face her, he opened his mouth, when the head investigator walked up to the absolutely shattered woman.

"Mrs White, sorry to bother you, but we are finished." He pulled out one of his business cards. "Everything is prepared. Should anybody try to contact you we will be able to trace the call and hopefully find out who has kidnapped your son. For now I will leave you alone with your family to give you some privacy. I'm really sorry for what happened," he added sincerely as he walked out of the house, asking his team to follow him for a short briefing.

Clark looked at the cables attached to the phone line and the computers. Shaking his head, a tear rolled down his cheek. Unfortunately, the police couldn't help them.

Richard walked up to Lois and sat down next to her and took Jasmine from her.

It was really astonishing for Clark, how well Richard had digested the fact that he was Superman. But, considering the circumstances, they were in at the moment, there was no other way to handle the situation.

Looking around and x-raying every room in the house, Clark made sure nobody could hear what he had to say to the mother of his son.

Nervously, he shifted from one foot to the other, adjusted his glasses, and looked deep into her eyes. "Whoever kidnapped Jason knew how to hide him," he said, finally telling them the truly disturbing news.

Lois turned to Richard as he turned to her. "Lex Luthor!" they realized out-loud in unison.

Clark nodded.

"Why couldn't you stop him?" Lois asked, accusingly.

He ran a hand through his raven black hair.

"Lois," he said in his deep Superman voice, something that caught Richard by surprise, who still hadn't been able to get his head around the fact that his friend and partner at the Daily Planet was Superman, the biological father of his son. "The reason why I super-sped out of the bullpen was not the fact that Jason got kidnapped," Clark continued. "I blew my cover because I noticed Jason's heartbeat _stopping_."

"What?" she asked in shock. All of a sudden, she felt her blood draining from her body.

He nodded. "I can always hear his heartbeat in the background," he explained. "Lois, Jason's heart wasn't the only one that stopped beating."

"What are you saying?" she asked, totally shocked.

"Celeste," he answered totally desperate, and not able to say anything anymore.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: My dear readers, a new action filled chapter!**

**Busard: **Please let me know if the story goes the way you thought it would be :) By the way, did you get my PM?

**Supesfan18: **Some more cliffhangers are on the way... I made the decision to split chapter 8 into two...

**Theroyalhighness supergirl: **I love cyber cookies in the form of reviews, they are very yummy my lovely reviewer number 20 :) Aaaaannd one extra cyber gummy bear for your interesting theory ;)

**Anon: **There is a fine line between being a genius and being a manic. Lex Luthor basically crossed that line when he tried to kill Superman on New Krypton. In this universe Celeste is the only connection to Lex's own humanity left as she saved Superman's life. That's why Lex is displaying such a fondness towards her. What makes him even more dangerous is the fact that he is a very clever psycho and has only one purpose left in his life, to kill Superman and his son! However, there is a more complex and interesting villain on the way in the sequel to POL :)

**As usual, a huge thanks to my betas Dragon166 and Astha22, as well as imnotjkr and annabelsmith! A special thanks goes to Supesfan18 for the creative input, especially in this chapter :)**

**8.**

"Superman?"

Clark looked up. "Did you hear that?" he asked Lois and Richard.

Both looked at him, shaking their heads.

"That's right!" Lex Luthor continued. "The special frequency I specifically created for you and me! I bet you never thought I would use it ever again…If you want to see your son alive, I strongly recommend you to come to the basement under the West Side Power Station. Alone of course. You have exactly _two_ minutes. Otherwise I will kill your little bastard!"he demanded.

Speeding out of the house, Clark grabbed his cell phone and called Oliver Queen. He knew he wouldn't be able to take on Lex Luthor on his own.

He was nearly at the appointed spot when he heard the screams of terror in the city. Frowning, he stopped midair and looked over Metropolis and there it was, the monster he had seen on the video at the Daily Planet, making its way through Metropolis, leaving total destruction behind it. His blood froze in his veins.

* * *

><p>Tess Mercer turned around, pensive. She was on her way back from a very important meeting at Luthorcorp. She had had suspicions that somebody had been following her throughout the day and now she was absolutely certain. Asking her driver to turn right and then left, she watched the black SVU following her limo copy her turns, although leaving some distance between them. Biting her bottom lip, she shook her head. Could it be that Lex had found out her little secret? Grabbing her backpack with her casual clothes in it, she gave the driver the address of her favorite place. If the SVU followed her there then she was certain it meant that Lex had hired a killer to get her out of the way.<p>

* * *

><p>Mathieu Perontier stared deep into the glass in front of him, sitting at the bar of some washed-up Metropolis pub, trying to drown his sorrows in his whiskey.<p>

He was very concerned about Celeste's safety even though he knew that Clark would do his best to make sure she was okay. Knowing Lex Luthor had Kryptonite meant that the situation was getting more dangerous than ever, for all of them. It also didn't help that Oliver had removed him from all involvement and responsibilities in everything related Superman. His boss had not told him why. However, Mathieu was fairly sure that the very close connection he had to Celeste and Clark may have played a role.

Running his hands through his dark brown hair, he came to the conclusion that his whole life had turned into a nightmare.

When somebody suddenly plopped on the bar stool next to him, ordering a Bloody Mary, he just smiled. "What makes you show up in this drinking hole?" he asked without looking up. He could sense that woman even without looking at her. "Don't you have a gala to attend?" he added derisively.

Stirring the ice-cubes in her drink, the bartender had just put in front of her, Tess put the glass on her lips and took a sip. "I missed you yesterday!" she admitted shamelessly.

Taking another big gulp from his glass, Mathieu turned his head and looked at her. She looked totally different in her dark blue tight Jeans and her white singlet, which showed an awful lot of her décolleté. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she didn't wear any makeup, what made him gulp. She looked incredibly beautiful, her natural beauty almost blinding him. A true goddess! He caught himself wondering how it would feel to kiss the pretty and full lips he was staring at.

"I wasn't invited," he said instead as he cleared his throat.

Tess glanced into his eyes. "That didn't hold you back at the Daily Planet fundraising gala," she retorted.

A smile escaped his lips. "I _was_ invited to that one," he let her know. "And by the way, you already had an escort yesterday."

"Oliver," she exhaled as if the billionaire was some sort of a deadly disease.

Mathieu just nodded and delved back to his whiskey, realizing that the glass was already empty. Holding up his hand he ordered another shot. He needed it. Desperately.

"You still haven't answered my question," he asked Tess. "Why are you here?"

His beautiful Australian accent sent shivers down her spine. She put a hand on his arm, a gesture that sent millions of electric shocks through _his_ body.

"I already told you Mathieu, I missed you!" Tess repeated frustrated.

Frowning, he took her hand and put it back next to her glass, but kept his hand on top of hers. "We don't even know each other," he told her bluntly.

She nodded and put her other hand on his chin to stroke with her thumb over his stubble. Gulping about how good he felt, she said, "We can change that."

Now Mathieu got really frustrated. Catching her hand, he looked her deep into her eyes. "Don't play with the fire Tess, you could get burned," he warned her, losing himself in the deepness of her beautiful green eyes. She was just pure magic for him.

"What if I want to get burned?" she whispered provocatively.

"You work for Lex Luthor," Mathieu tried to change the topic as he felt the heat crawl up and down his spine.

"And that's a problem why?" she asked bewildered.

Taking a big gulp from his newly poured whiskey, he waited until the strong burn had vanished in his throat. No, the whiskey wasn't nearly enough to calm him down. _Because he wants to kill my best friend and her hero husband. Because me and a bunch of heroes are about to take him out. Because I hate that you work for him. _"Because he is an asshole," he said straight into her face.

"Lex is a much respected man in our society," she defended her boss.

"Yeah, right," Mathieu answered depressively as sarcasm dripped from his lips. "A true Samaritan. The biggest in this world as a matter of fact."

Tess turned around and grabbed his arm to force him to look into her eyes. "Yes, he is! He has more charities than you have money in your bank account," she tried to explain the goodness of Lex Luthor.

"And more bodies on his conscience than a dime are a dozen," he contradicted.

"What are you talking about?" she asked puzzled.

"Don't pretend you don't know," he got angry, clenching his teeth by thinking of the danger Celeste was in at the moment because of the bald billionaire.

"And I started to like you," Tess yelled as she got up from her chair and stormed out of the bar. She needed to get out. She felt like a mouse trapped in a mousetrap.

Mathieu just watched her, totally puzzled about her strange behavior. Something was off. Swearing, he threw some money on the bar and got up to follow her.

Outside he found her crying. "Tess what is wrong with you?" he asked her as he got a tissue out of his jeans pocked and handed it to her.

She grabbed it and sniffed into it. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I really don't know what's wrong with me. I usually don't harass men in general."

Putting the tissue back into his pockets, he just gazed at her. "Maybe it's the power that comes with your position?" he realized with a big grin.

Tess nodded, but at the same moment, she noticed the black SVU from earlier just at the end of the street. She really liked Mathieu. Well, even more, but at the moment she had to finish her job.

Sniffing the last tears out of her eyes, she said. "I should go."

He just stared at her. "Yes you should," he agreed. But instead of letting her go, he lifted his hand and brushed a red strain of hair gently behind her ear.

That gesture sent shockwaves through Tess' body. It surprised her that much that she wasn't able to move at all. She knew that she, and as a matter of fact Mathieu, were in danger. But never ever had a man touched her that gently. He came closer and Tess realized that she had parted her lips before his lips had brushed over hers. Kissing him as if there was no tomorrow, she jumped up in his lap as he turned around and crushed with her into the wall behind them, intensifying the kiss even more. She turned her head, inviting him to kiss her throat.

Mathieu stopped, panting. "Tess," he whispered huskily. "You…," he tried to say it out loud, but she put her index finger on his lips and smiled.

"It's okay," she reassured him and continued to kiss his soft lips as she crossed her long legs behind his back, pulling him closer. All the hormones in her body were in turmoil. Even if she had wanted to, she just wasn't able to think straight anymore after his passionate kiss. She would so not stop to kiss that man even if this was the last thing she would ever do.

The moment she grabbed his head and pulled him closer to kiss him again, a light flashed and a gunshot cracked. When the bullet smashed into the wall just an inch next to them, they stopped, totally surprised.

Mathieu spun around, puzzled. What was that?

Tess opened her eyes and gasped. Lex's henchman stood in front of them, a weapon in his hand. He reloaded the gun straight away to fire it, but an unearthly sound made him stop instantly. Shaking he turned around to find out what had caused the strange sound.

Mathieu let Tess back on the floor to shield her body with his own. He didn't know how to protect her, but he would rather die in the attempt to make her life a little safer.

All of a sudden, a big horned monster showed up just behind the killer. Tess and Mathieu looked at each other in total disbelief. What was that thing and where did it come from? The monster looked at them and then at Luthor's henchman. Grabbing the now screaming like crazy criminal, the beast squeezed the man until his body was ripped into two parts. Discarding the body carelessly behind it, it then walked up to the two people staring at it.

Extending its hands, it grabbed Mathieu when a loud crack rocked the earth.

"_Let them go_!" Superman demanded behind the monster, nodding mutely at Mathieu. The pilot nodded back, signaling the hero that he and Tess were okay so far.

The monster turned around and let the captured man drop on the floor. Opening its mouth it supersped instantly to Superman and took him with it.

Mathieu und Tess could just watch them, gaping beyond belief for more than a minute. When Tess finally realized that the killer and the monster were gone, she pressed one more kiss on Mathieu's lips and pushed him with his face against the wall, grabbing his arm and trapping it against his back, holding the man, with one of her legs on his lower back, in place.

"Wow, wow, wow, easy luv. What's going on?" he asked, a bit scared about her reaction.

"Shut up!" she yelled.

"What?" he asked, still shaken up about the killer, the ugly monster, and _most of all,_ the superhot make out session with her.

"NSA," Tess told him harshly and waved her badge over his shoulder. "You are arrested!"

* * *

><p>Superman realized that the monster had to be from Krypton the moment they both crashed into a huge office building. Thanking all the spirits in the world that it was in the middle of the night, and that nobody was at work at this time of the day, Superman tried to get a grip of the monster. But the beast just lunged out and slapped the hero in the face with one of the sharp horns on the back of its hand. He instantly started to bleed out of the big nasty scar on his cheek. Brushing the blood away with the hem of his sleeve, he looked angrily at the monster. He had to stop it, but realized that it would be harder than he thought.<p>

Looking around, he tried to find a way to lure that thing away from the very densely populated area in Metropolis. He didn't want to endanger more lives.

The monster looked at the hero. Was that a grin on its horn covered mouth?

Tucking its chin in it took speed again and swept Superman from his feet within a split-second, taking flight with him high above Metropolis. There they hovered, punching at each other with such a power, the earth underneath them started to vibrate.

Superman knew that he only had one chance. Lifting his fist, he stroked out and sent the monster at the other end of the town. The thing crashed into a house and Superman realized with horror, that it was occupied by people. Superspeeding into the house, he grabbed the mother and her little child and flew with them to a safe distance.

When Superman dropped them on the floor as far away from the monster as possible for him in the short amount of time, the woman brushed over his injury and looked concerned into his eyes. "Be careful!" she warned him. He nodded and took flight again.

The deadly creature was already on its way to hit him and smashed directly into him. As they were fighting midair, some of the other heroes showed up, watching them in total shock.

They were fighting for more than ten minutes, and then all of a sudden, the monster hit Superman that hard that he lost his balance midair and plummeted to the ground.

Green Arrow, who had been just a few feet away from where Superman had crashed, ran up to him.

The hero was dizzy from the impact and looked confused at his friend. Green Arrow helped him to get up, but realized with great concern, that Superman stumbled with every step.

"Are you okay?" he asked, holding his friend's arm to help him to keep his balance.

Superman shook his head. "I don't think I can defeat the monster," he said in a hoarse voice.

Green Arrow just nodded and talked into his intercom system. "We need to find a way to distract _Fluffy_," he informed to the other heroes.

Black Canary answered him straight away. "What about the Metropolis Thermal Plant?"

Oliver got interested. "What about it?" he asked.

"Do you think Superman can trap the monster somehow in there?"

The archer looked at his friend who had slightly recovered from his injuries. "Isn't the plant cut from the power net due to restructuring work?" Superman asked as he tried to stop the bleeding from a deep cut at his chest with his cape.

"The plan could work," Batman's rough voice whispered into the intercom. "You know what you have to do Boy Scout. Good luck!" Then he was gone.

"I let the thing come as close as I can," Superman explained to his friend. "And then I try to catch it and leap with it into the plant."

"Once _Fluffy_ is out of the way, I will be your backup to save Jason, okay?" Green Arrow reassured his friend.

Superman just nodded. The feeling of nausea took over, and his fear about Jason and what had happened to Celeste paired with the strong pain of his injuries caused him almost to puke.

"The monster is from Krypton," he told Oliver as he felt the bile running up his throat.

"What?" the other man asked. But didn't get an answer as the merciless beast suddenly showed up and grabbed Superman, smashing him into a shop window a mile away from Green Arrow.

Closing his eyes and feeling a stinging pain on his side, Superman prayed that the plan would work. Focusing all of his strength, he grabbed the horned alien and shot forward in the direction of the thermal plant. There they both vanished within a split-second, followed by a huge explosion.

Then there was silence.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: My dear readers, the next action filled chapter!**

**Theroyalhighness supergirl: **You basically just have to sign in on the right bar, once you have an account and then you should be ready to go. Posting stories, writing signed in reviews, or writing PM's... By the way, there is a hint in this chapter regarding your theory ;) Enjoy!

**Thank you very much my betas Dragon166, Astha22, annabelsmith and very new in the mix rose123579 and Jremme who help me to improve my English and writing style! A special thanks goes to Supesfan18 for the creative input :) **

**9.**

Lex Luthor was really angry! Checking his wrist watch for the gazillienth time, he walked up to the cage where his victims were trapped.

"Superman is obviously not too concerned about you!" he yelled at Jason.

Realizing that Celeste looked at him with her eyes wide open, he walked closer to her as he played with the big gun he was carrying in his hand.

"Didn't you know?" he asked, an obnoxious grin appearing on his face as he glared at her.

She turned her head away as he eyed her more closely.

Catching her chin with his right hand, Lex forced her to look him straight into his eyes. "You don't seem to be too surprised about my statement my precious ballet angel. Did you already know that Jason is the bastard child of our beloved hero?" he asked her as he held her head harshly in place to find any evidence about what she knew in her eyes.

As she bit her lower lip until it started to bleed, he got _very_ suspicious.

Squeezing her face even harder than before, he yelled at her, "_Tell me what you know_!"

All the cells in Celeste's body started to vibrate as she looked at him, shaking her head mutely.

"She knows Lex," Kitty answered for Celeste as she walked slowly into the room and closed the door.

Lex turned around, totally surprised. "How?" he asked, loosening his grip just enough that Celeste could manage to slip out of his hands and get to Jason to hug him tightly.

Kitty glanced into Celeste's eyes.

"HOW?" Lex asked again, this time much more aggressively.

"Because she loves him," Kitty finally admitted what she had known for a while now.

"You bloody manipulative bitch!" Celeste screamed at Kitty. Her heartbeat doubling out of the fear that Kitty could spill the rest she knew about Superman.

The criminal mastermind's jaw literally dropped on the floor. "She does WHAT?" he screamed as the last of the self control he somehow still had maintained, left his body.

When the jarring sound of a ringing phone shrilled into the deathly silence of the room, the criminal mastermind ignored the phone first as he continued to stare down Celeste with clenched teeth for more than a minute; but when the damn thing didn't stop, he mumbled angrily as he picked up the ringing phone.

"Who has the nerve to disturb me right now!" he shouted into the receiver.

"Mr. Luthor," the voice on the other end of the line whined desperately. "You should come and have a look at this. It's bad, really bad."

The next Lex noticed was a loud scream and then the line went dead. What in the world was going on there? "Am I surrounded only by amateurs?" he asked, looking at his wife who just shrugged.

Lex knew that he had to go and make sure his henchmen did what he had told them to do. Walking up to Kitty, he pressed the gun into her right hand. "Keep them in check until I'm back," he whispered into her ear and jumped out of the room, his index finger pointing at Celeste and his lips forming 'I will get you bitch'.

"No problem," Kitty said, not leaving the young ballet dancer and the boy out of sight.

When Lex had finally left the room, Celeste suddenly sensed a way to escape. "You didn't tell him the rest of the story."

Now Kitty went closer to the cage. "Only because I didn't have the opportunity to do so," she corrected the young blonde woman. "Something I will make up for once he's back!"

In the manner Kitty looked at her, totally despising, Celeste knew that Lex Luthor's wife would not help her and Jason this time. Walking closer to the bars of the cage, she glanced straight into the other women's eyes. "What happened to you?"

"What?" Kitty counter questioned. "Who are you to ask me this question?"

Celeste just bit her bottom lip as she looked back at Jason who was sitting on the floor, still sobbing. She needed to find a way to break out of the cage and this was maybe the only chance she had before Lex Luthor would come back.

"You let me escape two years ago," Celeste started to argue.

"Yeah," Kitty snorted out, "How Samaritan of me. Listen," the young woman waved with the weapon in front of Celeste's face. "I was stupid and naïve. Too much so in fact!"

"But you believed in love back then. You wouldn't have let me go if you hadn't," Celeste said softly.

Kitty walked very close to Celeste. "Look how far I came with my girly-girly dreams about _true love_ and the man I thought would give me what I wanted the most."

"But Lex isn't capable of love," Celeste tried to explain Kitty the obvious.

"No, he's not," Kitty agreed. "But the worst part is that I have to share the little respect or whatever it is he has for me with your husband and you _and_ the boy here!" she screamed all of the sudden, her chest rising and falling as she puffed in fast breaths.

Celeste was puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Kitty got so angry that she grabbed into the cage, yanking Celeste's blonde locks until both of their noses almost touched. "You don't get it, do you?" she asked furiously.

Trying to suppress the pain in her head that almost caused her to faint, Celeste just shook her head mutely as thick tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Let me explain," Kitty offered with an evil smile on her face. "Lex's obsession with Superman is hardly a newsflash, but what bothers me the most is that Lex is also obsessed with _you_. Pretty much since the day he saw you dancing as _Julia_. Or why do you think he kidnapped you straight after the premier? And don't get me started with this bastard boy over there!"

Celeste just gulped. Lex, obsessed with her?

"Yes I know," Kitty continued. "Imagine my surprise when I found out about your connection to Superman… Jackpot! That's why I will finally see an end to at least two of his obsessions and prove to him that I'm worthy of his love," she suddenly said as Celeste's heart skipped a beat.

Letting Celeste go and pointing the gun on Jason's head through the bars of the cage, Kitty released the safety catch and put her index finger on the trigger.

Celeste's eyes widened. Jumping in front of the boy, she yelled, "I will kill you if you hurt the boy," her eyes fiery, looking at the other woman as she hugged Jason in order to shield him from the gun.

Kitty just started to laugh, extremely unimpressed about Celeste's attempt to protect the boy.

Meanwhile Celeste knew that it was now or never. Within a split second, she grabbed Kitty's hand and bashed her fist against the cold metal bars with all the force she could muster.

The gun jumped out of the brunette woman's hand, but unfortunately, it landed on the other side of the room, where Celeste couldn't reach it. Kitty looked at her with her eyes wide open.

Holding her now bleeding hand, she clenched her teeth. "You bloody bitch you broke my fingers!"

Extending her other hand to grab Celeste's hair again, she suddenly stopped midair when an explosion hit and shook the whole building.

Frightened, Celeste ran back to Jason and hugged him to protect the boy. When the door opened, Celeste realized that it had been Superman coming for them. Totally relieved, she put her hands out of the cage and yelled out for him.

When Superman realized that Celeste was with Jason and his wife and son were okay for the moment, he smiled, but Celeste got really concerned when she noticed that his supersuit was ripped apart and that thick drops of blood were dripping from his face, his chest and his thights.

"What happened?" she yelled, totally devastated.

Superman wanted to walk up to the cage to release them in order to help Jason and Celeste to not only escape Lex Luthor, but the deadly monster as well. He knew he hadn't much time to act as the monster was literally on his heels. But unfortunately, he felt a stinging pain shooting through his body the moment he had entered the room.

Lex Luthor had somehow managed to sneak up just behind Superman. Celeste couldn't believe that this maniac had been able to do that. Holding on the bars of the cage, she tried to warn her husband, but realized that it was already too late. The only thing she could do was watch Lex executing his evil plan with her eyes wide open.

"FINALLY!" Lex Luthor shouted out, lifting his hand and putting a shotgun that looked like one of the old vaccination guns on Superman's throat. "YOU WLL NEVER EVER STAND IN MY WAY AGAIN," Lex realized out loud as he pushed the button, releasing the green and blue fluid stored at the top of the gun directly into Superman's blood system.

"Nooooooooooooooo!" Celeste screamed when she saw her husband collapsing on the floor. He looked up and as he did, she could see the excruciating pain momentarily flashing in his eyes. His expression caused her heart to stop for a moment.

"Dad!" Jason yelled out, when he saw the deadly fluid causing his father to have serious problems to breathe.

Wheezing, Superman looked at his hands. All the blood vessels in his body were now shining through his skin in the cyan color of the mixed Kryptonite. When a paralyzing pain shot through his body, he knew that nothing in the world could save his life anymore. With all the strength he had left, he pushed Lex Luthor out of his way, knocking him on a wall on the other side of the room, where the criminal fell unconscious on the floor.

Stumbling, and with a severe stridor, Superman walked up to the cage and opened it.

"Oh God!" Celeste screamed borderline hysterical when he collapsed into her arms.

"Celeste," he wheezed. "Y... You h... have to get Jason and r... run away."

"No. I won't leave you alone. Are you nuts?" she protested in total panic.

He touched gently her face, his hand shaking.

"I'm b... begging you. There i... is a m... monster on t... the loose and I c... can't stop it," he stuttered, desperately trying to get some air into his lungs, looking pleadingly at her.

Sitting with his head in her lap, she brushed some black strains of his sweat and blood covered hair out of his face and embraced him.

"I can't, I love you!" she sobbed.

With these words, he looked lovingly at her, lifted his head and kissed her, collapsing lifeless in her arms the moment he had released her lips.

Celeste's eyes filled with tears. "No!" she screamed, putting her head on his chest, her locks covering his face. When she couldn't hear his heartbeat anymore, she started to panic. Feeling a sob ripping through her body, she slapped her hand over her mouth. Her whole body shook as tears involuntarily fell down her face, her trembling hand unable to suppress the sobs coming out of her.

Looking into Jason's eyes who had started to cry too, she was about to lose it, but a loud crack shaking through the building pulled her out of it.

When all of the sudden the horned monster showed up in front of her and Jason, she gasped.

The monster looked at them for a couple of seconds, then turned around to look at Superman. Taking one arm of the hero and lifting it up, it waited a few seconds and let the arm fall down on the floor. Turning back it slapped Kitty out of the way who had just stood there and looked at it in panic. Then it suddenly grabbed for Jason and squeezed him until he lost consciousness.

Celeste forgot to breathe as the monster turned around and looked at her and _very_ slowly bent down on eye level with her. Its red eyes burning into her gaze for more than a minute. She gulped. Her heart throbbing in her ears so loudly, she was sure she would get deaf. Panicking, she realized that the monster extended its other hand and grabbed her roughly around the waist as it took flight again.

Celeste knew that it was useless to scream. The beast had her that firmly in its grip, that she had serious problems to breath properly. As they were flying over Metropolis, she took in the devastation displaying underneath them. Worried, she turned her head and saw Jason in the other hand of the monster. He was still unconscious. Biting her bottom lip so that it started to bleed again, thick tears ran over her cheeks. Against her better judgment, she hoped that Superman was somehow okay. Remembering in total sorrow what she had promised him the day he had proposed, she also lost consciousness as the monster took flight in superspeed.

* * *

><p>Green Arrow entered the location cautiously; Superman had told him to meet up with him. Holding up his bow, he walked through the corridor, still trying to catch his breath as big pearls of sweat dropped from his brow. It was hard for him to get through the destroyed building. Superman had done a real job, but Green Arrow couldn't blame his friend. There was much at stake for him.<p>

Focusing on the door at the end of the corridor, he ran up and opened it. When his eyes had adjusted to the darkness in the room, he gasped.

Lex Luthor was sitting on the floor, next to the apparently unconscious Superman, releasing maniacal laugher.

"I killed him! I killed him! I killed him! I killed the world's greatest hero! Eat that you idiots, I KILLED HIM!"

Next to him stood Kitty, who bled alarmingly fast out of her abdomen, and who looked absently at the unconscious body on the floor.

Green Arrow frowned and walked up to them. The criminal was totally out of his mind.

Checking Superman's pulse, Oliver realized with worry that the hero didn't have a heartbeat anymore. Without hesitation, he threw his bow on the floor and started CPR, when Lex all of the sudden held the gun at Green Arrow's temple.

"_Nobody_ will take this victory away from me," he screamed, pulling the trigger.

The archer lifted his hand and grabbed the gun from Lex before he had been able to shoot, but the maniac wasn't ready to surrender.

With a loud scream, he attacked Green Arrow and threw him on the floor, sitting on top of him.

Oliver struggled for a few seconds, but got hold of the gun again. Trying to knock it out of Lex's hands, he yelled. "You won't win. Ever!"

"WATCH ME!" The criminal screamed back as the gun released a shot.

Kitty finally snapped out of her trance, totally in panic. "I didn't want this. Please honey, I didn't want this all!" she sobbed and ran up to Lex who was now lying on the floor, bleeding.

Oliver got up again and walked back to Superman, finally realizing that there was nothing he could do to save the life of his best friend.

Still holding the gun in his hand, he pointed at the maniac. His hand shaking. The criminal needed to pay for what he had done. Slowly Green Arrow released the safety catch and aimed on the criminal mastermind's head.

All of the sudden, the door opened and Batman stood in between Green Arrow and Lex Luthor.

Looking deep into the archer's eyes, he extended his hand. "You are better than that," he said. "Don't let him win!"

Green Arrow turned his head and looked at the body of his friend lying there.

"He already won!" he realized out loud, past hope.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: My dear readers, the new chapter for you!**

**Busard:** You are back :)

**Theroyalhighness supergirl: **Hey, let me know when you post some of your ideas, I would love to read them... :)

**Story Writer 4 Eva: **Hang in there, there is more to come...

**Supesfan18: **I know, I suck in fight scenes. I'm better in the romance department though... :D

**Jremme: **No worries, I know that life can be very busy, thank you very much for your help!

**Thank you very much my betas Dragon166, Astha22, annabelsmith, rose123579 and Jremme who help me to improve my English and writing style! A special thanks goes to Supesfan18 for the creative input :)**

****Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!****

**10.**

Celeste wasn't able to open her eyes. A strong pain went through her temples as she squeezed them shut even tighter than she had before. She tried to breathe, but all her body would do was shake. It was cold and she shivered uncontrollably. Sitting upright somehow, she rested her elbows on her knees and rubbed the spot where the pain was unbearable as her shivering slowly stopped. Wondering how often a human being could be knocked unconscious without suffering severe brain damage, she opened her eyes slowly and tried to take in her surroundings.

All she could recognize were shades of black, white and grey. Blinking, she lifted her arm and looked, surprised at the grey color of her fingers. Looking down, she noticed her ripped ballet tights, and her usually dark red dancing dress, also severely damaged. At the moment her dress looked… light brown? Blowing a lock of hair out of her face, she pulled another lock down and looked at it. Even her hair looked… strange. Shaking her head, she realized that she obviously had suffered from some sort of concussion.

Focusing, she tried to identify the landmarks around her. Her eyesight was blurry and she could not really notice anything familiar.

She needed to find out where she was.

Struggling, she got up and turned around 360 degrees, her mouth gaping. Finally getting the confirmation that she obviously and without any doubt _had_ suffered from a severe concussion, she looked disbelievingly at the two pale pink suns just over the horizon in the hostile grey environment around her.

Stumbling, she began to run, completely in panic.

"Help!" she screamed.

Once she had climbed out of the crater, she had been in before, the only thing she discerned was the wind around her growing into a huge storm. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she squinted in order to see something. She had to turn around. Fine grey dust irritated her lungs and she started to cough. Falling on her knees, she continued to crawl on all fours, almost blinded by the dust storm.

When she all of the sudden felt a resistance with her hands, she sat on her heels and opened her eyes. Trying to get the dust out of her face, she gulped, a scream dying in her throat as she looked at the skeleton lying in front of her.

Looking up, she took in the strange red fluid, in which the skeleton was laying, for the first time; halfway from the foot to the torso. Following the bright red stream with her eyes, she couldn't believe that her brain could fool her so much.

Sitting down on the floor and shaking her messy locks, she tried to piece together what had happened to her as thick tears rolled down her cheeks.

Suddenly she felt a whoosh around her. Then something grabbed her by her throat and dragged her over the ground. In absolute panic, she began screaming. She put her hands up in order to defend the attacker, but all she could feel, was her lungs dangerously lacking oxygen, and on top of that, her vision getting blurry again.

"No!" she screamed as she lifted her hands to grab whoever had attacked her, "You will not kill me!"

As she felt the attacker vanishing, she jumped up and spun around, her hands still up to defend herself.

Looking at the strange thing that hovered about a meter above the ground, she realized that it was more a ghost than a person. All of the sudden two other ghostlike creatures showed up next to the other one, ready to attack her again.

The wind was still strong. Celeste brushed the locks blowing into her face away with both hands and looked angrily at the ghosts.

This was _her_ strange dream and only_ she_ had the right to set the rules!


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: My dear readers, the new chapter for you!**

**winthjo: **Welcome back! Your question will be answered in this chapter ;)

**Busard:** Thanks for the great feedback!

**Supesfan18:** Here's the next part...

**Thank you very much my betas Dragon166, rose123579, and Jremme who never get tired to help me to improve my English and writing style! **

**11.**

Celeste still had her hands up as the wind persistently blew dust into her face. Even though she knew that there was nothing she could do if the ghosts tried to attack her again, she would be damned if she would die without trying to fight them!

Eying them closely, she noticed them approaching slowly and mercilessly. Big pearls of sweat dropped from her brow, mixing with the dust into a bizarre pattern on her forehead and gluing her locks to her face. As she turned her head, she saw even more creatures assembling with the others. There were so many that the only thing she could do was to gulp, and look at them with her eyes wide open.

They came closer. Much closer. Celeste estimated that there were at least twenty of them, all ready to attack her. She knew that she had no chance to survive another attack. Slowly, she closed her eyes and prayed. She could feel them almost grabbing her, as she involuntarily lifted her right hand in a last desperate attempt to fight them off. Absolutely unexpected, a beam of bright light shot out of her palm, as the creatures started to scream in high pitched voices, trying to get away from the light in total panic. Celeste, opened her eyes, totally surprised. At that moment, she was catapulted backwards and urgently made contact with the ground.

Rubbing her back, she got up again and looked, puzzled, at her hand that had stopped glowing. Surprisingly, all the creatures had vanished instantly.

Meanwhile, Celeste opened her hand to inspect her palm more closely. Her hand hurt terribly. Stunned, she noticed for the first time the House of El crest burned into her palm like a burn mark!

Terrified, she fell back on her knees, not being able to make any sense of the things that were happening to and around her.

When she suddenly heard the creatures, once more screaming in this deafening noises, she looked up. Some of them had tried to attack her, the moment she had let her guard down, but now a beam of the same light was coming out of a similar device, as a cloaked person emerged from behind her, holding the device in their hands and pointing it at the ghosts.

Watching the scary ghosts vanish, Celeste shifted her attention to the strange individual, approaching her slowly. Interested, the person came closer, still holding the device up high in order to defend against any of the ghosts. Celeste could see that the strange being was veiled in fabric and the person's beautiful blue eyes reminded her of the eyes of the man she loved.

Celeste slowly exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she had held for quite a time. She glanced at the creature and stuttered a silent "Thank you."

The person raised an eyebrow, at the same time lifting a leg and putting a foot against Celeste's chest to push the totally surprised ballet dancer back on the floor. While the strange person placed their foot just above Celeste's throat, the woman uncovered her beautiful face and said, "Welcome to the Phantom Zone!"

* * *

><p>Celeste just stared at the woman, totally speechless. She was the prettiest thing she had ever seen, her waist-long blonde hair blowing in the wind as the woman kneeled down and grabbed her by her locks, slapping her harshly out of her awe. "Who are you and where do you come from?" she asked with aggression.<p>

Celeste gulped and looked her straight in the eyes. "I come from Metropolis," she pressed out against the pain she was feeling in her head as the tears brimmed in her eyes.

While getting tense, the woman grabbed her even harder. "What _planet_ do you come from?" she asked impatiently.

"Earth," Celeste whispered hoarsely.

"Earth? Then why can you speak perfect Kryptonian?" the other woman continued to ask questions.

Now Celeste was puzzled. Tearing away from the woman's vice-like grip, she asked, "What? I may know a word or two, but a conversation in Kryptonian? No way!"

"Then how do you explain that you are having a conversation with me in Kryptonian right now?"

Celeste frowned. "Why can _you_ speak Kryptonian and what is the Phantom Zone?" she counter questioned, also getting aggressive out of frustration.

The other woman let go of her and turned around. After a minute, she glanced at Celeste again and held out a hand. "Come with me," she said briskly, while Celeste pushed herself up with the woman's help.

* * *

><p>They walked through the strange desert for what felt like forever, until they finally came to a tent that was torn into shreds. Surprised, Celeste looked the woman in the eyes, but she only grabbed her hand and dragged her into the unusual dwelling. There, she pushed the woman from Earth down on a place that was covered with fabric that reminded her of the bed, she desperately felt she needed right now. As Celeste looked wistfully at the soft surface of the bed, she asked. "What is going on? Are you real or am I dreaming?"<p>

The woman handed her a thing that looked like a bottle. "Drink!" she commanded.

Thankful for the offer, Celeste grabbed the container and took a greedy sip, for the first time tasting the dust in her throat. After she had emptied the bottle, she gave it back to the woman, awaiting some explanation from her.

"What is your name?" the woman asked.

"Celeste. What's_ your _name?"

"Raya," she answered sharply, looking Celeste straight in the eyes as her expression shifted from tense to sadness. "Not that names matter here."

Celeste frowned. "Can I trust you?"

Raya walked to the other side of the tent to pick up a tunic and a cape, and threw them into Celeste's arms. "Here, put that on!" she commanded. "You should not trust anybody around here. That can get you killed."

Looking around the tent, Celeste asked, "Where is here exactly?"

"Jor-El of Krypton created this place to hold criminals from the twenty-eight known galaxies."

Surprised, Celeste jumped up on her feet and grabbed Raya by her arm. "You knew Jor-El?"

Raya pushed the other woman away and nodded slowly. "How do you know him?" she asked accusingly.

Brushing some of her locks out of her face, Celeste looked softly into Raya's eyes. "I'm married to his son, Kal-El."

"Jor-El and Lara never had children," Raya corrected Celeste.

Now the woman from Earth touched her arm again, this time very gently. "Yes they did."

"But Krypton was destroyed by General Zod many, many years ago."

Celeste nodded. "I know. Lara and Jor-El were able to save their son by sending him to Earth," she explained to the totally stunned woman. She was thrilled that she was able to get to know another being from her husband's eradicated home planet; even though she was still very confused why _she_ was in this strange place.

A tear escaped from Raya's eye. "Celeste it is very dangerous here. The Phantoms, prisoners, are trapped here for life. Most of them had their bodies destroyed, but their essence still hunts the wasteland."

"The Phantoms were the creatures that attacked me?" Celeste asked as she slipped into the new robe.

"Yes," Raya confirmed. "The crystal Jor-El gave me seems to be the only thing they fear."

Celeste turned around and looked the other woman straight into the eyes. "How did you know Jor-El?"

Raya turned around and walked up and down the tent, deep in thought. "I was one of his closest assistants," she explained.

Celeste released a loud peal of laughter. "Yeah right, when you were five? Raya, Krypton was destroyed more than thirty years ago."

This information hurt Raya so much that another tear ran down her cheek. "Time is meaningless here," she tried to explain. "When Jor-El discovered what Zod had done, I wanted to stay with him and Lara. But he would not hear of it. He thought I would have a better chance to survive if I was sent to the Phantom Zone."

Nodding, Celeste asked the obvious. "Why didn't they both come with you?"

"Because Jor-El would not stop trying to save Krypton and Lara would not leave her husband's side." Raya brushed the tears out of her eyes and walked up to Celeste to show her the device she had used to defeat the Phantoms. "This is all I have left from Jor-El. Everyday he still saves my life."

Stunned, Celeste lifted up her hand. "I got mine from the artificial intelligence of Lara on the day of Kal-El's and my wedding. They are also watching over their son and me," she realized, totally stunned. Suddenly she grabbed the shoulders of the woman from Krypton and looked her deep in the eyes. "I have to go back to Earth, Raya. You were Jor-El's assistant, you helped him to create this place. Is there any way out?"

Raya nodded. "There is a gate," she whispered.

Now Celeste got really excited. "A gate? Why haven't you used it to escape?"

Raya got up and put her hand on Celeste's shoulder. "It will not open for anybody, except the house of El."

Celeste shrugged. "That shouldn't be a problem. I'm married to Kal- El.".

Raya shook her head. "You do not understand woman from Earth," she tried to explain. "The_ blood_ of the house of El is the key to open the gateway. It is the only way to leave this place. Otherwise you are not able to go back to Earth at all."

Celeste suddenly felt as if all of her blood was drained from her body. Stumbling, she walked out of the tent in a trance-like state. Her head was spinning and she felt as if she would be sucked into a big, black hole. In front of the tent, she suddenly felt very sick. Choking, she released all of the water, she had just drank a few minutes before, out of her stomach. When she was finished, she wiped her mouth with the hem of her sleeve, and looked up into the two pink pale suns, as she finally realized that she was trapped in the Phantom Zone forever!


	13. Chapter 12

**My dear readers, the new chapter with a short delay... okay... a bit longer delay as usually...**

**Busard: **Yes, Celeste is trapped in the Phantom Zone, wonder how that will work out ;)

**Winthjo: **Interesting theory...

**Theroyalhighness supergirl: **Welcome back! Also very intriguing theory...

**Dougtoo: **Thank you very much for your amazing feedback! Your questions will all be answered in the chapters to come :)

**MLoiseE: **Thank you for your review! You are very special as you brought me back to POL!

**A special thanks goes to my amazing beta Jremme!**

**Enjoy!**

**12.**

Celeste felt extremely sick, and on top of that, her head just wouldn't stop spinning. The sheer fact of knowing that she would most likely never be able to get back to Earth again catapulted her into a deep state of desperation. Curling up in Raya's bed, she cried most of the day as she was not able to get her head around the fact that she was trapped in this hostile environment, most certainly until the day she died.

Raya felt very sorry for Celeste. Even though it was a very tough life in the Phantom Zone, at least Jor-El had given her a chance to stay on Krypton and face the fate of their home planet. However, the woman from Earth hadn't had that option. She had been sent to this place without knowing what she would have to face. Raya had tried to find out why Celeste had showed up in the Phantom Zone in the first place, but the Earthling woman hadn't been able to remember what had happened to her and why she had been sent into the intergalactic prison.

Raya had watched Celeste's desperation for the whole day. She knew that a human being could not live and function properly without any water and food for longer than a short period of time, something a Kryptonian didn't have to think about. Grabbing the bottle of water, she walked to the bed and sat down on the edge. Softly, she touched the shoulder of the graceful woman lying sobbing in front of her.

Celeste looked up, her eyes puffy and red from crying.

"Here, have something to drink," Raya offered.

Celeste just slapped the Kryptonian woman's hand away, causing the fluid to slosh out of the bottle. "I don't want to drink," she replied stubbornly.

"You will die if you refuse," Raya pointed out soberly.

"I don't care!" Celeste answered as she buried her head in the pile of fabric that was supposed to be a pillow, her sobs continuing. She couldn't care less if she died from dehydration and malnutrition.

Raya released a long sigh and brushed her hand through the blonde corkscrew curls of the woman from Earth. Celeste was very special and the fact that she was married to the last son of Krypton almost blew her away. She would give everything to be able to get to know Kal-El. "What is he like?" she asked, deep in thought.

Turning her head to face Raya, Celeste got up a bit. "Who?"

Smiling, Raya wet a piece of fabric and put it on Celeste's brow. "You are burning up - I mean what is he like, Jor-El and Lara's son."

Celeste felt her heart sinking for a moment. She felt so desperate and miserable being trapped in the Phantom Zone, but the thought of her husband gave her the hope she needed to fight to survive. "He's extraordinary," she replied sincerely. Sitting upright and hugging her legs, she finally gave in and took the bottle from Raya. "He's the most amazing man I've ever met," she tried to explain as she put the bottle back into her lap. "He will never give up and he always sees the good in people, even in people most wouldn't bother to try."

Raya smiled. "That sounds a lot like Jor-El," she realized.

"I don't know. I met his artificial intelligence once, and he didn't come across as being somebody who cared," Celeste remembered.

"To be honest, knowing Jor-El as I do, I would think he tried to keep all of his emotions out of his AI, in order to teach his son what was really important to know about his life on Earth. Jor-El told us stories about your home planet and how Kryptonians would have all these extraordinary abilities there. Is it true, that the yellow sun gives us special powers?" Raya asked excited.

Celeste nodded. "Yes."

Now Raya got up and spun around, her hands up high. "How does it feel for Kal-El to be the ruler of your world?"

Blowing a lock of hair out of her face, Celeste took a sip of the water and tried to calm the other woman down. "That's what's so amazing about Kal-El. Even though he has all these abilities, he only uses them to help others."

"Really?" Raya stopped spinning, surprised, and looked with her eyes wide open to Celeste. "I cannot even imagine. Why does he not try to take over your world?"

"Because that's not what he was taught by his parents."

"I thought he never met Jor-El and Lara?" Raya asked, puzzled.

"Unfortunately, he didn't, except for their artificial intelligences," Celeste confirmed. "However, he was raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent. They are the two most amazing parents in the entire universe!"

"They just accepted him as their son, even though they knew that he was from another world?" Raya asked, totally surprised.

Celeste nodded. "Yes, they did. And they gave him all the love they could give!"

* * *

><p>Mathieu stared at the mirror he knew was separating him from the people watching him closely. He could sense them and he didn't like the feeling of shivers running up and down his spine.<p>

He had been captured and held in the bleak grey room, with only a table and two chairs in the middle, for more than twelve hours. Rubbing his weary eyes, he released a long sigh as he fell back in his chair. He was tired and hungry, and on top of that, his bladder was about to burst.

When all of the sudden the door sprung open, he felt a relief that at least somebody had finally come to explain to him what the fuck was going on.

Lena Baker, alias Tess Mercer, walked up to him and looked into his eyes for more than a minute. Then she sat slowly down opposite him and put her elbows on the table, resting her head in her hands.

"G'day, mate," she said smiling.

"What is going on?" he asked, totally puzzled and extremely angry.

The dark rings under his eyes told Lena that he was very tired and frustrated. A very good combination to interrogate her suspect, and maybe, with a bit of luck, she would get him to spit out what she wanted to know so desperately.

"How are you?" she asked him instead of answering his question.

"How do you think I am?" he asked. "I didn't get any sleep last night, nothing to eat, and unfortunately the Whiskey isn't working anymore either!" he spat.

Lena smirked. There was something about this man that was extremely sexy. Maybe it was his beautiful brown eyes. Maybe it was his shoulder length, dark brown, curly hair, which was totally messy at the moment, or his stubble that looked so sexy that her center started to stir. Or maybe it was his boyish charm; she didn't know, but something about him made her heart skip a beat, every time she looked at him.

"Lena, don't forget why we are here!" a voice in her right ear reminded her of her duty.

"What do you know about the heroes?" She came straight to the point.

Mathieu looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Lena got up and walked around the table, bending down and looking even deeper into his eyes. "What do you know about the heroes?" she repeated her question.

Mathieu sat back, relaxed his legs in front of him and crossed his hands behind his head. "Well let's see… They are running around and risking their lives to keep us, the rest of Metropolis, _and_ the whole planet safe." Getting back into a sitting position, he leaned forward and continued. "In case you forgot, we were both saved by one of them just a few hours ago. So what do you want from me?"

"I want you to tell me who they are, as in their true identities!" Lena demanded.

Mathieu looked at her, blinking. "And what makes you think that I would know such a thing?"

Lena went back to her chair and focused his eyes. "Just a hunch," she said casually. "Relax. You weren't the only one I had in mind to get that information from."

"Who else did you have in mind, if I may ask?"

Now Lena slid with her torso closer to him over the table. "Clark Kent," she whispered as she licked her red lips.

Mathieu shook his head. Whoever this woman was, and whatever she wanted to do with this information, she was good. Extraordinarily good as a matter of fact. And that scared the hell out of him. Looking back into her eyes he said. "Why don't you ask him then Tess?"

Sighing, she sat back in her chair. "I would love to, but Clark Kent has been missing for more than twelve hours. And by the way, my name is Lena!"

Mathieu gulped, trying to process all the information she had just given to him. Clark Kent was missing? What did that mean for the rest of the world and the other heroes, and most of all, what did it mean for Celeste?


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: My dear readers, a shorter chapter this time...**

**Busard: **I'm sure you will like this one :)

**Supesfan18: **Thank you so much for your support!

**Theroyalhighness supergirl: **Your question will be answered in the next chapter!

**Anon: **Hm, yummy candy! Thanks so much for them, they helped me to finish the next chapter, which is already with my beta ;)

**A special thanks goes to my amazing beta Jremme!**

**13.**

As Mathieu still tried to process all the information Lena had given to him, and she was still looking at him with a very cheeky smile on her face, the door opened, and a tall man in a designer suit walked in, throwing his suitcase on the table, directly between Lena and the pilot.

"What are the accusations?" he demanded, looking the woman straight into the eyes.

Lena got up slowly and extended her hand. The look on her face instantly caused the temperature in the room to drop to icy cold. „Lena Baker. We have very sensitive information that leads us to the conclusion that Mr. Perontier is concealing important knowledge regarding national security," she explained vaguely.

"What are the accusations?" the man demanded as he walked around the table, completely unaffected by her expression.

The young woman turned around, trying to signal her colleagues behind the thick glass to tell her what was going on and how in the world this man had found out where Mathieu was.

"He's his attorney," the voice whispered into her ear. "There is nothing we can do at the moment to keep the suspect locked up."

"Who are you to interrupt me in the middle of my interviewing process?" Lena spat, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned back to face the man in the suit.

Opening his briefcase, he grabbed a business card and handed it over to the woman. "My name is Colby Smith and I am Mister Perontier's lawyer."

"That's fantastic," Lena replied as she rolled her eyes. "He will stay in custody until we have found out what he knows nevertheless."

"I don't think so," the advocate replied as he lifted his hand, asking Matthieu to get up and follow him.

They walked out of the door, closely followed by Lena. „You have no right to take the suspect with you. This is a matter of national security and therefore Mr. Perontier has to stay locked up within this facility," she tried to hold them back.

Colby Smith turned around. "You have no evidence for the allegations against my client. Have a nice day Miss Baker."

Watching them walking away, Lena grabbed her cell phone. "I need a team to follow Mr. Perontier. _Now!_"

Outside, a Queen Industries limo waited for the lawyer and his client. Mathieu got into the car, where Oliver was already waiting for him and nodding to Colby Smith, that he was allowed to go.

"Nice one!" Mathieu said, smiling and taking the whiskey Oliver was just handing him over.

"Yeah that tracker in your wrist-watch really saved the day."

"Why is the acting CEO from Luthorcorp working for the NSA?" Mathieu asked after he had emptied the glass in one big gulp.

Oliver lifted his hand and rubbed it over his face. The last twenty-four hours had come very close to his definition of a living nightmare. "I've got no idea, but I will find out!" he replied as he grabbed a suitcase and handed it to Mathieu.

"What's that?" the pilot asked.

"I need you to go to Paris," Oliver explained.

Blinking in disbelief, Mathieu said. "_Paris_?"

"Yes. I will fill you in on our way to the airport. For now, I need you to tell me exactly why Mercy took you?"

Mathieu slipped out of his clothes and into the ones Oliver had brought for him. "She asked me about the heroes. She wanted me to reveal their true identities."

Oliver looked up, alarmed. "How did she know that you have a connection to us?"

"I asked her that too. She said that I was just a hunch and that she also had Clark in mind. Oliver, this woman is extremely dangerous and in the possession of knowledge that can expose every single one of you," Mathieu said shattered.

"Yes, Mercy is very dangerous. No news to me," Oliver realized with a croaky laugh as his driver signaled him that they were being followed. "And very clingy, too."

Mathieu turned around, surprised. "We've _already_ got company?"

Nodding, Oliver smiled. "I'll take care of them. You go to the airport. Your plane will leave in an hour." Nodding to his driver to let him get off, he grabbed Mathieu's hand. „Good luck buddy, we need all the help we can get."

Holding back Oliver as he began to step out of the car, Mathieu said, "Lena won't give up and be on my heels with every step I do."

The playboy billionaire's mouth morphed into a cheeky smile. "I'm sure you can handle her Romeo!"

Rolling his eyes, Mathieu got more serious. "She told me that Clark's been missing for more than twelve hours. What is going on?"

Oliver's expression made his pilot gasp. "Mathieu, there is something I need to tell you."


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: My dear readers, the chapter you've all been waiting for :) The song is Blinding from Florence + The Machine.**

**Busard: **Computers can be a pain sometimes...

**Supesfan18: **Thanks for your support!

**MLouiseE: **I'm sure you will love this chapter :)

**Jremme, you are so amazing, thank you for your help to get my English right!**

****This chapter is dedicated to Busard!****

**14.**

The pictures in her head were a jumble of events Celeste had experienced throughout her life - her first performance in front of an audience when she had just been three years old; the birth of her twin brothers, which had been an amazing event for her, when she had been twelve; her first love Mathieu, who had helped her out when her old car had broken down on the day of her audition for the Australian _Romeo and Juliet_ production in Sydney; Thomas, her dancing partner, who had had a car accident, forcing him to stop dancing; her, traveling to Metropolis; Clark! The love of her life. Jason. Superman. The monster. Being trapped in the Phantom Zone. Raya. Indescribable pain. A strange crystal. Blood, so much blood….

Celeste opened her eyes and was totally confused. Trying to turn around, something stopped her midway. She sat up and looked down, only to realize that she was attached to an EKG monitor. Totally puzzled, she tried to take in her surroundings. She was lying in a hospital bed girded by syringe drivers, infusion pumps, and all sorts of medical things attached to her.

Getting on her feet, she ripped the IV line out of her arm and got rid of the EKG monitoring, and walked slowly out of the room as she looked around for clues as to where exactly she was.

Strangely enough, the hospital was completely empty. Celeste did not notice one nurse, a doctor, or any other living soul.

Nervously, she put one foot after the other, her body wobbling with every step so that she had to touch the wall with her hands to aid her walking. At the end of the nearly endless corridor, she suddenly heard a voice. Picking up her speed, and walking as fast as she could manage in her condition, she followed the noise.

When she finally found the source of the voice, she saw all the people standing in front of a huge plasma TV, located in the patient lounge room. Nobody spoke a word, nobody even seemed to breathe as they eagerly followed the broadcasted report.

Celeste stopped and shifted her attention to the television. She felt as though she were still being held in a dream state as she watched the camera moving over a huge crowd of people. Everybody was standing in silence when the camera finally focused on a far away spot, slowly approaching.

Some of the people standing with her in the room started to sob when they could finally recognize the spot as a coffin. When Celeste realized the red-yellow-and-blue banner spanned over it, she felt a pain ripping through her body, like she had never felt before. Clenching her fist until her knuckles started to turn white, she could feel the agony everywhere! In her feet, in the hollows of her eyelids, shaking through her skull, through her spine and down through her ribs. All the bones in her body began to shake and her eyes flew wide open, her hands finding her mouth, trying to suppress the sob that threatened to escape from her throat.

Absolutely devastated she felt her legs giving in and her whole body starting to shake uncontrollably. Her eyes remained glued on the television, following the ceremony as the tears were running uncontrollably down her cheeks.

The coffin was carried by Green Arrow, Batman, Hawkman, and the Martian Manhunter, closely followed by the other members of the Justice League. Right after them, and all by herself, was Lois Lane White followed by the President of the United States and his family. Celeste pressed her hands even tighter over her mouth. Not being able to hold it together anymore, she had to turn her head away from the television as she felt her legs giving in once again.

* * *

><p>Mathieu Perontier had just been out of Celeste's room for less than a minute. He had needed a cup of coffee after he had been sitting at her bedside and holding her hand, only with short breaks in between, for more than a week. He had been totally shocked after Oliver had told him about the events that had happened after the monster had shown up in Metropolis. How the Justice League and Superman had tried to defeat it, and what Lex Luthor had done to Superman. Very thankful about the fact that his boss had asked him to look after Celeste as Oliver knew that they both had been very good friends for a long time, Mathieu knew that she needed him now more than ever before in her entire life.<p>

Oliver had been able to occupy Lena Baker to such an extent that she hadn't been able to follow Mathieu as _Wayne Industries_ and _Queen Industries_ had taken over _Luthorcorp_ since Lex Luthor had been officially declared dead and the acting CEO had to attend all the meetings in person. Nevertheless, the NSA had sent an agent to watch over him, but Mathieu couldn't care less as he only had one priority, and that was to make sure that Celeste was as okay as she could be in her given circumstances.

Totally stressed about where she could possibly be, he stormed around the corner and found her standing behind the people, watching Superman's funeral ceremony.

She was dressed in a hospital gown, pale as a ghost and blood was dripping from her hand where the IV line had been. Noticing that she was starting to wobble, he walked up to her and wrapped his arms firmly around her. „Shhh sweetheart, I've got you!" he tried to soothe her.

Absently, Celeste looked up into his eyes, her expression confused. "Mathieu?" she asked.

He nodded and brushed a kiss on her brow. "Yes. Come let's get you back into your bed," he said gently to her and picked her up to carry her back into her room. Once there, he put her on the bed. "Are you okay?" he asked when she looked into his eyes, her own flooded with tears.

"I'm all right," she let him know, still sobbing and trying to process what she had seen.

Taking both of her hands in his, he swallowed hard. "I am very sorry Celeste." She just nodded as he grabbed the remote control for the television in her room. "Do you want to continue watching?" he asked out of courtesy.

Celeste gently squeezed his hands and shook her head. "I've seen enough Mathieu." He nodded as she looked around the room, confused. "Where are we?"

"In Paris," he broke the news to her.

The young woman's eyes widened in shock. "Paris? Why Paris?"

Mathieu brushed gently over one of her locks, falling over her shoulder, and trucked the strand behind her ear. The black rings under her eyes were so evident, it made him sick to look at her without getting extremely angry. Whatever had happened to her, it was huge. "What can you remember?" he asked as casually as possible, but still not able to suppress the shaking in his voice.

Sitting a bit more upright, she buried her face in her hands, trying really hard to make sense of all the mess in her head. "I… I can remember that I went to bed after the male audition for the new movie we are working on," she started to compile the pieces in her head. "Clark was there and picked me up to bring me back home, but somehow he got called away to the Planet. When I woke up, Jason and I were in a huge cage captured by Lex Luthor… Superman came to rescue us, but he asked us to run away as far as possible as some monster was on his heels. Lex… L," Celeste suddenly started to shiver all over and Mathieu hugged her firmly as she turned her head and sobbed into his shoulder. It took her a few minutes to be able to continue to speak. "Lex had some strange gun that he had stored liquid Kryptonite in." Looking up in Mathieu's eyes she said as her voice was breaking. "He killed him. That son of a bitch killed my husband," she sobbed and Mathieu held her even tighter than he had before.

"It's okay Celeste. You can take a break if you want to," he tried to calm her down.

Looking up into his eyes she said. "No. I have to tell you what happened so I don't totally go nuts. Do you understand that?"

He nodded silently.

"The monster jumped through the ceiling and grabbed Jason," she thought about what had happened next. "I don't know why, but for some strange reason this thing spared my life and took me with it. When I woke up, we were in the Fortress."

Mathieu looked at her, puzzled.

Realizing that he didn't know anything about the Fortress of Solitude she just said. "Long story. It's a sort of getaway for Superman, built out of ice and crystals from his home planet. The monster totally destroyed it while I went into a panic as I couldn't find Jason. I was so scared that something happened to him. When I finally spotted him, he was so confused the poor kid. I grabbed him and we both tried to flee but the monster was faster. It ripped Jason out of my arms. Mathieu, I swear to you, it wanted to kill him. I can still hear his desperate screams echoing in my ears as I tried to find a way to help him." Shaking her head, she tried to put into words what had happened next. "I knew I had no chance against that thing and the moment I had lost all hope, I felt a strange object in my hand." She lifted her right hand and looked at it. "The artificial intelligence of Clark's birth mother gave it to me on our wedding day. It's a crystal. I kept it back in Metropolis in a safe place and I really don't know how it landed in my hand at that moment, but I grabbed it and aimed at the monster out of pure desperation and all of the sudden a bright light shot out of it…."

Mathieu had followed her story, absolutely tense. „And then?"

Shaking her head, Celeste said. "I can't remember. The next thing I remember is waking up in this bed."

Getting up, Mathieu walked to the window and looked outside, taking in the magnificent view of the majestic Eiffel Tower looming over the town. "That still doesn't explain why you are in Paris."

Slowly something dawned on Celeste. "Jason? Jason! Oh God, what happened to Jason?" she asked in total panic as she jumped out of the bed and grabbed Mathieu's cell phone.

Mathieu was next to her with one move. Taking the phone from her, he calmed her down. "Relax sweetheart. He's safe."

"Safe?" she asked disbelievingly. "How?"

Releasing a long sigh, he gently pushed her back down on the bed and put the cover over her. "Lois and Richard told me that he was missing for over a day when they heard a big bang in the middle of the night. They followed the noise and finally found him sleeping in his bed. They woke him up, but he couldn't remember what had happened, except a bright light, he described as being like a huge slide, taking him back into his room."

Celeste just looked at her closest friend, blinking disbelievingly and trying to process what he had just said. "How is he now?" she asked.

"He's okay. Very shaken up though. He told us that he had to witness what Lex Luthor did to Superman." Mathieu bit down on his button lip and clenched his teeth at the thought of what Lex had done to Superman and the people he loved and cared for.

Nodding, Celeste tried to calm down a bit. She needed to find out what had happened to herself. "What do you know about me showing up here in Paris?"

_Here we go_, Mathieu thought. He had so many questions. There were so many events that didn't fit at all. Sitting next to her, and kissing her hand he said with a slight smile on his face. "You showed up here nine days ago. Totally out of the blue after you were missing for twelve hours." Turning his head, he had to brush away a tear. „You were in very serious condition when they found you in a metro train that had an accident. There was a huge rescue mission and many helpers were involved as the train suddenly jumped off its tracks. Some of the witnesses said that just before the accident a bright light shot through the Metro wagon and the events that followed they described as Hell breakingloose. The rescue team found you among all the other injured passengers. You were awake and could tell them your name. That was how I was able to find you, but you had lost a lot of blood so you fell in a deep coma which you just woke up from." He had to squeeze her even harder. "I thought you were going to die."

Celeste had followed his story with her eyes wide open. Squeezing his hand, she shook her head. "I can't remember anything. Why was I in the Metro?" He just shrugged. "It must had been straight after the events in the Fortress," the young woman tried to find some sense in the events that had lead her to be in Paris. "What if I was sent here, while Jason was sent back home?"

"That could be," Mathieu agreed. "However, there is no sign of the monster at all. It's as if that thing has been wiped off the surface of the Earth."

"Don't know," she replied. "I still can't understand why it took me in the first place."

Now the pilot got up, totally stunned about the fact that _he _was able to piece together one piece of the gigantic puzzle displayed in front of them. "No sweetheart, it makes perfect sense that it took you!"

"What do you mean?"

Mathieu lifted both of his hands and placed them on either side of her head. "You can't remember?" he asked disbelievingly. "You really can't remember?" Still stunned about the fact that she obviously had forgotten the most important part of her rescue, he tried to explain to her as gently as possible, why it made perfect sense that the monster had taken her. "Superman thought that the monster was from his home planet," he explained her what he knew.

"How?" Celeste asked.

"I seriously have no idea how that thing came to Earth, but Superman was absolutely sure that it was here to kill him."

The young woman lifted her eyebrows, getting suspicious. „How do you know all that?"

Lifting up his hands in defense, he said. "Let's just stay with the facts for the moment please. So, the monster wanted to kill Superman or was sent to Earth with that instruction." Celeste nodded to confirm that she could follow him so far. "Wouldn't it then make sense that the monster also had the aim to kill everybody blood related to him?"

Now the ballet dancer was lost. "It makes sense that it took Jason if your theory is right, but that still doesn't explain why it took _me_," she said frantically.

Looking into her tear filled beautiful green eyes, Mathieu tried for one last time. "Please tell me that you _can_ remember."

"No," she sobbed, getting totally frustrated with the whole situation. It was hard enough as it was, and sitting in this hospital, in a country she had never been before, without knowing why she was there and what had happened to her, on top of all the horrible things happening, made her feel more helpless than she had ever felt before.

As he brushed the tears off her face with his thumbs, Mathieu explained softly. "Celeste, you weren't alone when they found you in the Metro train." She wanted to say something. To ask him what was going on, but he just put his index finger on her mouth and said. "Don't worry sweetheart. I have the best pediatric specialist and midwife in the world on this one."

At that same moment the door opened and Celeste's father Dr. Christopher McPherson and her mother Heather McPherson slowly entered the room, carrying a little bundle in her arms, and finally Celeste could remember _everything_!


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: My dear readers, a new update!**

**Thank you very much for reviewing Busard and ****Supesfan18 :)**

**Jremme, you are so amazing, thank you for your help to get my English right!**

**15.**

Celeste slowly opened the gate to the place she was about to go. Looking up in the sky, she realized that her mood was matching the dark and miserable winter weather she had to face back in Metropolis.

Walking through the rows of old stones, she felt the drizzle falling into her face. She was already soaked as she was only wearing a coat and hadn't bothered to bring an umbrella, but she couldn't care less.

Very slowly, she approached the monument where _he_ rested. Biting down on her bottom lip, she suddenly felt unable to move closer. Again, she looked up at the sky, exposing her face to the small droplets falling from the sky, the icy cold water mixing with her tears.

She didn't know if she was able to do this, but she also couldn't bear to be back in her apartment, which was, even though her parents were with her, cold, abandoned, and felt strangely different with him not being around.

The worst part was that she could still somehow feel his presence. More tears brimmed in her eyes. His scent was still lying in the air, and she didn't know if she would ever be able to sleep in their bed again.

Deep in thought, she hadn't realized that she was already in front of the tomb where Superman had been laid to rest forever.

Sighing, she sat down on the marble platform and stared at the simple engraving.

_Superman died as he lived, defending mankind._

A cold wind blew around her and she tried to tighten her coat a bit, as desperation hit her full force. Up until now, everything had been so unreal. She hadn't been able to tell her parents or Martha and Jonathan, who had welcomed her back in Metropolis with such a warmness that she had almost lost it, or even Mathieu, what had happened to her in the Phantom Zone. There was no way she would burden the people she loved with any of the events she had to go through to get back to Earth. But now, sitting at the grave of her deceased husband, she could not hold back the tears anymore. Surprised that there was still a drop of the salty fluid left in her exhausted and sleep deprived body, she sobbed.

_I'm sorry, _she thought, well aware that she would never be able to speak out loud what she was thinking. _Clark, I am so sorry. _Panic welled up in her as she tried to calm down just enough to continue her inner train of thought. She had to do this to find some peace of mind, if ever. _I'm so sorry what happened to you and I'm even more sorry that I wasn't able to keep my promise to always be there for you._

Sniffing, she closed her eyes, knowing all too well, what he would have had to say to that statement. _Celeste my love, you were there for me, always. You saved the world! That is more than I could have ever asked from you._

_No, Clark, I failed you. I failed our love and my promise. I know I was the one to get that monster away from Earth, but __at__ what expense? I couldn't __save__ you from Lex Luthor and I certainly didn't kick his ass like I promised you to do if he would ever try to hurt you again, can you remember? _A slight smile flashed over her face by thinking of the day he had proposed to her. _Well, I didn't keep my promise and I feel very sorry for that._

_I had a strange experience after the monster. The newspapers all over the world __called__ it Doomsday; after Doomsday kidnapped Jason and me__,__ I somehow defeated it with the crystal your birth mother gave to me. I was transported through time and space and woke up in the Phantom Zone, while Jason was sent back home to Lois and Richard. The Phantom Zone was a very strange place if you ask me, but I met somebody. An amazing woman who gave her life for me… and I also met somebody very special. _Sobbing, she tried to not lose her composure. _Clark, we… we have a daughter. _She started sobbing again, her vision getting blurry. _She was born in the hostile environment and I had to use her blood to escape the Phantom Zone… No, don't be mad at me, I didn't hurt her. I used the blood from her umbilical c…_

"Are you okay?"

Celeste jumped when she realized the stranger, checking up on her. Looking up, she could just notice a very expensively dressed man, his face covered with an umbrella.

Brushing the tears out of her eyes, she nodded mutely. "Sort of."

Crouching down, he revealed his graceful face, smiling warmly at her and glancing cheekily into her green eyes. "You don't seem so okay from my point of view," he stated.

Pressing out a smile, she said. "It's just a little tough at the moment."

Nodding, the stranger got up and looked down at her. "Can I offer you my umbrella?' he asked, this time a bit more serious.

Just then he realized who was sitting in front of him. He almost hadn't noticed her with her puffy eyes, wet hair hanging in loose locks over her shoulders, and her very desperate posture.

"Celeste Kent?" he asked surprised.

Celeste looked up again, brushing some more tears out of her face and nodded.

Sitting next to her, he put the umbrella over both of them and smiled. "I saw you dancing at the Daily Planet fundraising gala. That was truly amazing," he let her know, drifting into the memory.

She just shrugged. "Thanks."

"I almost won the dinner with you," he revealed with a side glance and a huge smile on his face.

Now she looked up. Totally stunned, she narrowed her brows, her breathing getting a bit irregular. "You are Bruce Wayne!" Celeste realized out loud, mentally slapping herself for not having noticed that before.

"Guilty as charged," he smiled. "How did your dinner with the notorious lady eater go?"

Celeste glanced straight into his eyes. "And that's coming from you?" she asked. "It was not like I expected it to be," she answered.

"Did he harass you?" Bruce asked surprised.

The young ballet dancer just nodded. "Yes, but I had a guardian angel."

Now, she could see his eyes twinkling and was really surprised by the slight smile appearing in his face. Bruce couldn't suppress his chuckle by thinking of Boy Scout getting all worked-up about the richest man in the world sexually harassing his wife.

"I bet you had," he said lightly, at the same moment regretting that sentence had slipped out.

"What are you doing in Metropolis at this place?" she asked a bit more seriously.

"I had to visit somebody," he explained sadly.

"Oh," Celeste realized the dumb question. "I'm sorry."

He just nodded. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Turning back, she looked at the solid marble stone. "Just thinking," she explained as she bit her bottom lip.

"Did you lose somebody, too?"

She let out a long sigh. "My husband has been missing since Doomsday showed up," she told him shamelessly the official lie about the whereabouts of Clark Kent.

"And you are here at this grave why?" he asked, interested, gesturing at the engraving.

Wow, this man didn't come even close to the reputation he had in the tabloid press. From Celeste's point of view, Bruce Wayne was anything, but spoiled and boring. He was something much more. Most of all, he was dangerously clever.

"I don't know," she lied. "Maybe to expect a miracle?"

"Don't we all need one?" he realized out loud.

Shrugging, she turned away from him, starting to sob again, when all of a sudden a little baby started to cry.

Bruce watched her unzipping her coat and lifting up and soothing the newborn in a sling she was wearing around her torso. Dumbfounded, he looked at her, surprise plastered all over his face, revealing to her for just a fraction of a second that something wasn't quite right about his reaction.

As the baby started to cry more intensely, Celeste shrugged away the strange feeling and nursed her for her afternoon feed.

"You have a child?" Bruce asked, still taken aback.

"Why is that such a surprise?" she asked.

He realized that he was on very shaky ground. "I just didn't notice that a baby was with you," he tried to squirm out of it.

Celeste nodded. She still had to come to terms with being a mother, especially with the little time she had had in Earth-time to prepare for motherhood.

"I was in Paris, when I heard what happened," she started to explain, wondering why she would even tell a stranger her story. "It was where I gave birth to my daughter. There I heard that my husband was missing after the Doomsday attack."

Bruce just listened, still not able to digest the fact that Clark had a newborn child. "But I saw you just two months ago, you didn't seem to be pregnant at the gala."

"I didn't show." She told him the lie to cover up her extremely short pregnancy.

"Ooooookay," he said slowly, wondering why his friend hadn't told him such exciting news.

They were sitting next to each other for more than ten minutes, their silence only interrupted by the soft sound of the rain falling on the umbrella spanned over them, and the occasional grunting sounds of the baby feeding.

When the baby was finished, Celeste lifted her up, showing Bruce for the first time the face of the little child. He extended his hand, brushing over her velvet cheek, feeling very sad about the fact that she and Jason would have to grow up without their biological father.

"Her name is Lara," she told him.

"What a beautiful name," he said sincerely at the same time getting up, but still holding the umbrella over the woman and her child. "Can I escort you home?" he asked, not able to suppress his sadness.

Putting the baby back into the sling, Celeste also got up and smiled. "I'm okay Mr. Wayne. It was really nice to meet you."

"Likewise," he said. "But please call me Bruce and take the umbrella," he pleaded as the rain had become more heavily in the last couple of minutes.

"But then you haven't got one," she contradicted.

"That's okay. All the best Celeste," he said as he walked away. "And I really hope everything will be all right for you and your daughter some day."

Then he was gone, leaving back Celeste with the strange feeling crawling up her spine that something was very off about the extremely generous and sympathetic playboy billionaire.


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: My dear readers, finally an update. It has been a while :)**

**Winthjo, Supesfan18, supernaturallover1098, Guest, CaribbeanTrinidadian, Theroylahighness Supergirl, Randy, and last but not least Dugtoo, thank you so much for reviewing!**

**A special thanks goes to my lovely beta Jremme who is always there when I need help!**

**Enjoy**

**16.**

Celeste could feel the tears running down her cheeks. Opening her eyes, she started sobbing. Turning to the other side of the bed, she looked out of the window. It had been nine months since she was back in Metropolis, and still, it felt unbearable for her to live her life without Clark. Every single day, she had to fight to even be able to breathe, let alone function properly. The worst part for her was that the pain didn't get better like everybody tried to convince her of. No, for her it got worse every day. So much so, that she had to take medication in order to be able to sleep.

Lifting up her hand, she touched her throbbing head. It had been extremely busy for her in the last couple of months as she, Julian, and Chung Hong had had the duty to promote the movie. They had finished filming just a couple of months before, and now the movie was about to be released in the next few weeks.

_The movie_, she thought. Going back and filming this motion picture after the death of her husband, her disappearing in the Phantom Zone, and the strange birth of her daughter, had been the hardest thing she had ever done in her entire life.

But she had been strong all the way through. She had to be. For Lara. The little girl was like a sunbeam in her life. The only purpose in life she had as a matter of fact, and Celeste loved her daughter more than anything else in this world.

Turning to the other side, Celeste buried her face in Clark's pillow and started to sob, trying to remember what had happened the evening before.

She, Julian, and Chung had been invited to promote the movie. She had barely been able to hold it together when the talk show host had asked all these stupid questions, even though Chung's media team had brainstormed her and Julian as how to answer these questions properly.

After they had patiently gone through all the questions, the two dancers then had performed one of the dances in the movie. To the song _Colorblind_, Clark's most favorite song.

Closing her eyes and turing on her back, Celeste lifted her hand and brushed over her face, remembering that she had totally lost it after the performance and had had a nervous breakdown just when she and Julian had gone backstage.

She couldn't remember much of what happened afterwards, except a phycician administrating her some strong tranquilizer that had made her feel strangely dizzy. She could vaguely remember that Mathieu, who had never left her side in the past months, had brought her back into her apartment as she had not been able to walk on her own, where Jonathan and Martha Kent had waited for her, extremely concerned about her health.

Sitting up a bit, she glanced at the red numbers of the clock on the bedside table, only to realize that it was the middle of the night.

She still had that feeling of light-headedness and looked around, wondering where everybody had gone. Turning back on her side, she glanced out of the window.

It had started to rain and the millions of lights of the never sleeping city mixed with the water drops on the window, illuminating the room in a very dim and surreal light. Burying her head in the sheets, she let out a long sigh and slipped out of the bed as she knew for sure that she would not be able to go back to sleep soon.

Walking up to the book shelf, she picked up a photo album and the compass globe of Clark's spaceship, like she had done almost every night since she had been back in Metropolis.

Sitting down on the bed and crossing her legs, she opened the album Martha and Heather had given to her and Clark on their wedding day.

The mothers had gathered all the pictures of their children together. From the first day of Celeste's life, and from the first day Clark had been on Earth. They had put together a timeline for both of them every year of their lives. Now Celeste was sitting there, looking at the very cute pictures of her husband when he had been a little boy. She couldn't help the tears brimming in her eyes; it hurt so much that she couldn't feel anything else than the deep feeling of loss. Sobbing, she brushed over one of the pictures, showing him with his friends at his high school graduation. Next to it was a picture of her in her high school uniform and ballet shoes, taken on the day she had had her final exams. Smiling, she remembered that it was one of Clark's most favorite pictures of her. Turning a few pages, she got lost in both of their lives until she looked at her most favorite picture of her and Clark. Jimmy had taken it on their wedding day, showing them kissing right after the ceremony. She lifted her hand and touched the picture as thick tears rolled down her cheeks.

Deep in her own thoughts and desperation, she suddenly felt a very gentle touch on her shoulder. Confused, she turned around, and realized with her eyes wide open, that Clark was sitting just behind her, completely naked.

Smiling at her he asked, "What happened my love?" as his magnificent piercing blue eyes stared, concerned, into hers.

Not being able to say a word, Celeste turned a bit more, looking over her shoulder and touched his face, totally puzzled. He looked as if he hadn't shaved for a couple of days and his hair was a bit longer than the last time she had seen him. A strand of jet-black hair fell over his eye and landed on the angle of his cheekbone. She pushed it off his face and kissed him, her eyes open, their gazes locked. Still not able to say a word, another tear escaped her eye.

Clark cupped her face and brushed the tears away with his thumbs. "Why are you so sad my love?" he asked softly.

"Are you real?" she bluntly counter-questioned, putting a hand on her head. That doctor at the talkshow had certainly given her a bit too much of the sedative.

It was Clark's turn to look puzzled. Grabbing her hands and kissing them, he just looked at her as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm missing you," Celeste whispered, finally giving in into the beautiful dream.

"I'm here Celeste," he reassured her, embracing her from behind as she collapsed into his arms, putting her head on his naked chest. He grabbed one of her locks and twirled it around his index finger, deep in thought.

When she felt his warm and masculine body, Celeste started to believe that maybe, _just maybe_, he was really there with her. She turned her head and listened to his unique heartbeat, her tension slowly vanishing as she relaxed even more in his arms.

He looked deep into her jade green eyes and gently kissed her lips. "I'm here," he whispered, as he continued to kiss her throat.

Celeste rubbed her head against his chest and a moan escaped her lips. She had missed him so much it hurt just thinking about it. She closed her eyes and let the sensation of his touch on her smooth skin wash all over her body.

His open mouthed kisses revealed his pent-up desire for her. Lifting her arms up high above her head, he continued to kiss her neck, kissing his way up as he ran the tip of his tongue around the shell of her ear, while his hands slipped slowly to the pale pink ribbon of her singlet, opening it and exposing her naked breasts. By this move, she opened her eyes and arched her back, shoving her hardened nipples into his palms.

"I'm here," he reassured her on a breath against her ear, his warmth driving away the coldness she'd felt for all the months she had been without him.

Powerful arms tightened around her as she let her head fall back, her corkscrew curls washing over his naked shoulder by this move. He inhaled the scent of roses and lavender, his hands caressing her from her waist to the neck. Celeste's heart fluttered in her chest as thrills ran to her extremities. Panting, she reached for his hands and guided them to the secret place between her legs, gasping for air, when he finally touched her. Pleasure battled terror, both sensations ripping through Celeste's body so furiously that she had to bury her fingers into his hair and press him harder against her.

Their gazes met as the softness in his eyes disappeared, only to be replaced by pure desire. Clark shifted and gently guided her body to spread on the bed as he was lying on top of her, continuing to kiss her hot lips. He lowered himself and their skin touched below the waist. She moaned and arched her back. The tingling sensation of his unshaved cheeks, brushing over her smooth and naked skin, caused her to gasp. The desire she felt was beyond anything she had ever felt before. He stopped and looked deep into her eyes.

She wrapped her legs around him and opened her mouth for more of him. He lowered his head to feather kisses and blow soft, sweet, warm breaths on her breasts.

A fever rolled up her spine and back down to her womb, her hips jutting into his, still kissing, still gazing into his baby-blue eyes, her tears running uncontrollably over her cheeks.

"I don't want this to end," she sobbed. "Ever."

He caught her chin as he slid gently into her, filling her completely. "It won't," he promised, and started to move slowly.

* * *

><p>Clark opened his eyes in total shock, squeezing them shut again as a strong pain shot through his temple.<p>

Instinctively, he put his hand on his throbbing head as he slowly opened his stinging eyes and waited until his pupils had adjusted to the unbearable lightning conditions in the room.

With the slightest movements, he felt another indescribable pain ripping through his body, giving him the feeling that all of his being was about to be shred into a million pieces. Breathing heavily, he pushed his body into a sitting position, putting one bare foot on the floor, closely followed by the other.

Totally puzzled, he turned his head, realizing that he was in a very strange room that was flooded with a bright light. He was sitting on some kind of bed, and on his chest there were EKG dots attached that were strangely enough not connected to any monitoring evident in the room.

Lifting his hand, he touched his head again just to find EEG dots sticking to his brow.

While trying to stand up, he could feel his extremely wobbling legs giving in as he lost his balance and hit the floor with a loud and painful bang. There, he remained for a few seconds absolutely still, until the pain had eased enough that he could breathe again.

Trying to get up, he grabbed for the edge of the bed and could manage to get onto his legs, pushing himself into a standing position as the door opened. Clark had to squeeze his eyes to be able to see who was standing in the doorframe.

„Wow Boy Scout, I bet that was a hell of a dream!" Oliver exclaimed with a cheeky laugh as he walked into the room.


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: My dear readers, the long awaited update :)**

**First of all I want to thank my readers and especially my reviewers, busard, Guest, Superfan2, AliceOfCards, TwilightNewMonnEclipseMidnight, dragonqueen909, titemb-bm, ProwlHawthorne, sassygirl9811, and last but certainly not least joylinnn who brought me back to the story!**

**In this chapter there will be some of the mysteries solved, answering a view of the questions you had in your reviews ;)**

**Thank you Phillipe and Ivy for being such amazing dancers performing the dance I used in this update! The song is Colorblind from Counting Crows.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Supesfan18.**

**17.**

Clark walked into his apartment throwing the keys and his glasses on the coffee table. Sitting down on the couch, he pulled his hands up to rub his weary eyes. He felt as if a train had struck him over and over again. After a couple of minutes just sitting there, he looked up, totally confused.

Where was Celeste?

Making the decision to find out if she was at home, he wanted to get up, however, getting sidetracked by a DVD lying on the table, he picked it up, looked at the cover and read 'Ronan O'Lion Show'.

Curious about a record of his most favorite talk show, he fed the DVD into the CD-Rom drive of the laptop, lying on the table in front of him. As the DVD was loading, he tried to remember what Celeste's last project had been about, but all his efforts failed. Resigned, he realized that his ability to remember what had happened before he had been almost killed by Lex Luthor was totally off.

All of the sudden, he hared people clapping. Concentrating on the computer screen, he saw the talk show host looking into the camera.

"Ladies and Gentleman," the man smiled broadly. "A new movie will hit the cinemas at the beginning of next month. There is a big anticipation, and people are desperate to know what will happen to the provincial ballet dancer, trying to find her fortune in the biggest city of the world. Today, I have the honor to welcome the lead actress and dancer, Celeste McPherson, her dancing partner, Julian Tanaka, and the producer of the movie Mr. Chung Hong in my show."

Applauding enthusiastically, the audience started to scream when Celeste, Julian, and Chung Hong entered the stage.

Clark gulped as his heartbeat accelerated just by seeing the woman he loved so much on the computerscreen.

The three guests made their way to the host and settled in the comfortable chairs next to the huge desk, after Ronan had given the producer and male ballet dancer a handshake, and his charming female guest a gentle kiss on her hand.

"So," Ronan smiled at Celeste who was sitting next to him. "I had the honor to watch an advanced screening of 'Lovedance' and I have to say, wow. Just wow!"

The young woman smiled, but Clark could notice that her eyes were displaying anything but happiness. He noticed deep desperation and sorriness in her glance. "Thanks", she answered simply.

Turing to the audience and concentrating on the camera once more, Ronan continued. "I've never seen such an amazing dancer and guys, you really have to check this movie out." Turning back to Celeste, he asked, „When did you start dancing? I'm only asking as I'm considering taking ballet classes after watching the movie. You really convinced me that dancing should be my next career."

The audience started to giggle as Celeste looked at the middle-aged man. A slight smile escaped her lips.

Clark watched her, feeling a strong urge to pull her into his arms and kissing her until the end of time. She looked absolutely stunning in her black dress and her hair pulled into a nice up do with only a few blonde corkscrew curls escaping the hairstyle.

"I started to dance when I was three," she explained.

"I'm almost three," Ronan noticed. "Well, maybe if I could go back in time, and with lots of practice over the years, I would be able to be as good as you," he added depressed.

"It's hard work", she continued. "I missed out on many things kids at this age do all day long, but being a dancer isn't only just a job for me. Being a dancer is my passion."

Ronan took her hand and kissed her for the second time. Celeste blushed.

"I could see that," he said breathlessly, indicating that he had as serious crush on his Australian guest.

Turning to the producer, he smiled. "Chung, I have to say, you are a genius. There hasn't been a movie comparable to this one in ages of movie history. How did you convince this young lady to be your lead?"

Celeste looked at Chung. "He stalked me," she said reproachfully, "Even in the supermarket."

Now the audience laughed.

"No that's true," she confirmed.

"Only because it was really hard to get a hold of you," the producer tried to defend himself. "I've followed Celeste's carrier very closely in the past five years. Even before she came to the United States. After watching her dance with _La Vierge_ at a fundraising gala in Metropolis, I desperately wanted to have her for this movie, which was on hold as we had to find a suitable female lead."

"Well, I have to say, there is nobody in the world I could imagine to play the part other than you," Ronan said dreamingly to Celeste. Turing back to the camera and still holding the young ballet dancer's hand he said, "Lets show our audience what we are talking about, shall we? - Ladies and gentlemen, it is a honor for me to show you in a world premier the trailer of 'Lovedance' in my show!"

He turned around as the audience clapped. The camera focused on the huge plasma screen behind him. The screen changed, showing the trailer of the movie. After the trailer had ended, the whole room got dark as the camera was focusing on a shirtless Julian Tanaka, only dressed in pyjama bottoms, sitting in front of a piano.

When the music started, he pretended to play. All of his well-defined back muscles danced in sync to the sounds. The song was absolutely breathtaking and Clark felt shivers running all over his body. His most favorite song. The young male dancer stopped to play, and Celeste showed up, dressed into a crimson dancing dress, kneeling in front of the piano player, starting softly to caress his back with her right hand.

Julian got up and touched her head, turning her and supporting her body as they both almost touched their lips. She went into a split with one leg still straight on the floor. As they were touching each other's faces, Celeste got upright again and rested one of her leg on the keys of the piano, slipping slowly into Julian's arms, falling on the floor as he supported her, putting her gentle on her back. He lay down on top of her only for a few seconds, turing on his back in the next move. Celeste followed him, straddeling on him in a split. He got up and Celeste slipped down his legs into another split on the floor. Getting up again and jumping into a midair split, the female ballet dancer twirled around the piano and sat on the chair where Julian joined her for a view seconds. She collapsed backwards on his lap, extending her whole body over him. He leaned back on the piano keys as she rolled slowly down his legs until she touched the floor where she extended her whole body backwards and got up into a sitting position and next into a pirouette. He walked up to her and stopped her spinning by holding her right leg. Grabbing her hair band, he pulled it out of her hair as she collapsed back on his chest.

Clark gulped as the camera was now focusing on her beautiful face, covered in tears as she turned her head and slowly closed her eyes.

The male dancer caressed her face with his right hand and lifted her over his head where Celeste touched his waist from behind as he lifted her over his shoulder. She did a split as he carried her to the piano, where he gently put her into a sitting position on top of it. He then closed the piano and sad down on the chair. Celeste embraced him as her blonde corkscrew curls felt over his shoulders. There she remained in this position, and it was obvious that she was crying.

Clark stopped the DVD and looked at the screen with his eyes wide open. Collapsing back into the couch, he buried his head in his hands, tears brimming in his eyes.

It was almost unbearable for him to see how badly she was mourning. But after all what Bruce, Oliver, Mathieu and most of all Emil had told him, he could certainly understand what she must had gone through in the past months.

After Lex Luthor had almost killed him, the criminal mastermind had been taken into custody by the Justice League, and was now rotting in a prison cell somewhere underneath the_ Starlabs_. However, for the general public, and mostly, for the American legal system, Lex Luthor was officially deceased.

Clark had been really stunned when his friends had told him that his earthly persona had been missing since the Doomsday incident. Even though Clark had not been in the condition to sit upright for longer than a view minutes, he had had to know why he was still alive.

After a long sight, Bruce had explained to him that the world hat put Superman's body to rest almost ten months ago. Afterwards, the world had been fallen into a deep depression. The Dark Knight had continued to explain that the crime rate had shot up to a sky rocketing level, and that the Justice League had worked almost twenty-four-seven to get the world back into order. However, they had succeeded in the last couple of months as the people in this world had finally accepted a life without Superman.

Mathieu had continued to explain that Tess Mercer had worked undercover at _Luthorcorp_, and that her real name was Lena Baker, a NSA agent that had investigated to find out the true identities of the heroes. Oliver Queen's private pilot had further explained that the female agent had taken him into custody, accusing him, and most of all Clark Kent, working against the government by secretly supporting the heroes. In the time Clark had recovered in the _Starlabs_ they hadn't had a chance to tackle the Lena Baker problem. Most annoyingly for Mathieu was the fact that her team was following the young man literally on his heels, every day and every step in his life what made it pretty hard for him to show up in the special designed lab in order to get an update about Clark's condition on a regular base.

There was something else that worried the league of heroes. The new _Vigilante Registration Act_, released just a view days before, regulating the secret heroes to reveal their true identities in order to prosecute them for their crimes. Every hero failing to do so within a month would end up in prison for life when caught.

Oliver hadn't almost been able to tell Clark what had happened after he had been injected with the green and blue Kryptonite.

Clark had listened to his friends with his eyes wide open, not being able to process most of the events that had happened. Even though he had felt extremely weak and exhausted, there had only been one question throbbing in his head. What had happened to Celeste and his son during that time? Had his friends been able to save her and Jason, and most of all, were they okay?

At these questions, his friends had felt into silence, not wanting to say a word.

The hero had had to go to great measurements in order to force them to finally tell him the truth. Mathieu had just sighed, looking at the other heroes and had finally answered his question by telling Clark that Celeste and Jason were okay, but that they did not know that he was still alive.

To say Clark had been shocked was a total understatement. He had been beyond believe.

"Are you completely out of your mind? Not telling Celeste that I am still alive?", he had asked, looking at the other heroes one by one, clenching his fists so hard, that it had started to hurt him, a sensation he had never experienced before.

When his friends had finally managed to calm the injured hero down, Emil had explained that his condition hadn't been stable for the past ten months. During that time they hadn't even known if he would ever come back to life at all. Until a view days ago, when his body suddenly had shown some signs of recovery, and him finally waking up just a couple of hours before.

Even though Clark had felt very upset, he could understand that his friends had just wanted to protect his wife and son, and for that he could not fault them. _No_, he realized. His friends had done the right thing by keeping Celeste out of the experiments they had done with his body. She wouldn't had been able to handle that procedure. Not at all…

* * *

><p>Still sobbing and burring his head into his hands, Clark didn't realize the little girl slowly scrabbling into the living room. She had heard the noises and had associated her mother with the music. But now she stopped, sat back on her bottom, and looked at the odd looking person.<p>

Slowly, she got closer, just too curious about who was sitting there.

Meanwhile, Clark tried to get it all back together in his throbbing head as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his memories before he had been almost dead.

The little girl just watched the man and tilted her head to the side. She realized that he was crying, something her mother did _very _often. She pulled herself up on the side of the couch and walked very slowly, as her feet wobbled dangerously, up to the man.

When Clark felt a soft touch on his right leg, he stopped sobbing and looked up. Opening his eyes, he looked stunned into the most beautiful cerulean eyes of a child, he had ever seen before.

Slowly, he shifted a bit closer to the edge of the sofa and looked fascinated at the little girl.

She tiptoed and touched softly the tears running down his cheeks. Turning around, she looked at the laptop screen. Giggling, she pointed at the frozen image of her mother and turned back to Clark to indicate that she exactly knew who this was, yelling repeatedly and very excited, "Mumum, mumum, mumum!"

The only thing Clark could do was just to watch her with his mouth wide open. _Can this really be?, _his thoughts worked through his shock. Could this really be _his_ child?

As he looked at her, he took in every small detail of the little girl. From her rainbow colored woolen tights, her jeans dress, her blonde hair to her face, her chin, her neck, her red cheeks, and the cute little dimples in her tiny hands…

She was perfect!

Still looking at her, he extended his right hand. Grabbing one of his fingers, the girl walked closer to him.

Stunned, he realized that she was the splitting image of Celeste. She even had a touch of her mother's blonde curls just at the tips of her silky fine baby hair.

The little girl just held her arms out. Clark picked her up. She cuddled instantly into his arms, hugging him as tightly as she could.

* * *

><p>Martha, who came back from watering the plants on the rooftop garden, went into Lara's room. "I'm back my little butterfly," she smiled. "Now we can read the book about <em>Rubber Duck's Adventures<em> together".

When she realized that Lara wasn't in her room, she panicked as the child usually always obeyed the rules, even in her young age.

Absolutely outraged, Martha walked out of the child's room, looking for her granddaughter.

"Lara where are you?" she yelled through the apartment, looking in every little corner.

When she came into the living room, her heart skipped for more than a beat. Absolutely stunned, she realized that Clark, her only son who hadn't been alive for almost a year, was sitting on the couch with Lara in his arms.

Clark, who hadn't noticed his mother, just rocked the little girl as he held on her very tightly, his chin resting on her brow.

Concerned Martha noticed, that he had obviously difficulties to breath. "Clark!" she shouted out, running up to him.

He looked up and was simultaneously happy, and surprised to see his mother. Jumping up from his seat he hugged her tightly, making sure not to squeeze the little girl in his arms too much.

Lara, who noticed her grandmother, jumped excited up and down in her father's arms, starting to yell "Mumum" again, pointing on the computer screen.

Martha stroked gently over the golden hair of the child and smiled. "Yes my little butterfly, this is your mother," she confirmed. Looking to her son she asked astonished, "Where have you been all this time?"

He gave the child in her arms and sat down. Trying to get more air into his burning lungs, he shook slowly his head.

"Mum, you wouldn't believe it anyway."

His mother sat down next to him, putting Lara on the floor, who walked straight back into Clark's arms.

"Well try me. My threshold is pretty high at the moment!" she stated, brushing lovingly a hand through his jet-black hair.

He leaned into her touch and smiled. It took him a while to be able to speak as he felt very weak. "A… after Lex Luthor had literally killed me, Batman rescued my body just in time as Lex had apparently instructed two of his henchman to get a sample of my DNA in order to clone me." Now his mother was utterly shocked. She put a hand on her mouth and looked at him with her eyes wide open. "When Batman managed to get my body out of harms way," he continued, "he and Dr. Hamilton found out by accident that I had still some signs of live in me. They tried to find a way to bring me fully back to live, and realized that the only way to remotely do such a thing was to involve the yellow sun. They placed me under an intense light, Emil had especially developed to speed up my recovery. Aapperently it helped," he shrugged, too exhausted to continue to talk.

Martha didn't know what to say. She pulled him into a hug, soothing him by stroking his back. Her boy was still alive. A miracle from her point of view.

After a minute Clark looked up. "Mum, where is Celeste?"

Martha looked at the little girl in front of them. "She is at the film studio."

Suddenly everything came back into Clark's mind. A week before the monster had shown up to destroy the world they had had the conversation about her accepting the lead for the film. He could remember her saying that she was considering not to take the offer as she felt their lives would be too much exposed if the movie would actually succeed.

"They are about to finalize the movie for to release it next month," Martha explained.

"Where you here all the time?" Clark extended his hand, touching very gently Lara's head.

"Most of the time, together with your dad, Heather and Christopher. We tried to support Celeste. Clark, she is a total mess. There were days when she was not able to look after the baby, or even herself," she tried to explain after a little pause.

He nodded. He had seen her on the DVD. Memories coming back into his mind from the time when he had been sick prior to their wedding ceremony.

"I can imagine," he realized, his voice almost breaking.

Reluctantly, he looked into his mother's eyes. Coming back to life, and finally coming home to find out that he had another child, was not an easy thing to digest. It was even harder to take in as he estimated the age of the child at about a year. Exactly the time he had been away. Biting down his bottom lip, he turned to the little girl and looked at her absentmindly.

"Clark, this _is_ your daughter."

Turning back to face his mother, he just gulped. „Mum, there must be a mistake. Even though I can't remember everything what happened before that monster showed up, Celeste being pregnant would be something I would never forget, and the last time we were together, she had still the contraception device implanted," he added as he blushed crimson.

Martha just sighed. Of course it was hard for him to take it all in. Especially the fact that Celeste's pregnancy had literally taken half a day in this timeline.

"I am so sorry, but it's not my place to tell you what happened. Only Celeste can do that."

He gulped again, totally confused about the odd behavior of his mother.

Martha pulled his head down and kissed his brow as she could sense his extreme exhaustion. The most important thing at the moment was that he was safely back with his family. Everything else would fall in place in time. "I love you, and now meet Lara."

When Clark realized that Celeste had chosen to name their child after his birth mother, he collapsed back on the couch as he wasn't able to hold back the tears anymore.


End file.
